How to download a backup copy of your Twitter data (or deactivate your account)

Some people are nervous about what the future may hold for the social network as big changes are underway. Even in calm times, it's important to know how to get a copy of your data for local safekeeping, or if you want to stop using your account. It gives you control of your data.

The process of getting a copy of your data can take a long time. This is done to give its server time to gather the data it will send you, and for safety reasons.

To complete the process, you will need an email address or mobile phone number registered to your account. Once you have the data, you'll be able to keep a local copy of your tweets without having to log in.

How to request your Twitter data on desktop or mobile

The first thing you need to do is complete a request. If you would like to request an archive, you need to log in to the website or the app.

Click " More" in the sidebar if you're on the site. You can set up support on the mobile version of the app. Click or tap "settings and privacy" when the menu expands.

Click or tap the option to download an archive of your data.

You can choose to receive a verification code via text message or email, depending on what you choose.

You can return to the "Download an archive of your data" page after you type the code into the social networking site. Click the button to request an archive.

You can expect your archive to take 24 hours or more to prepare.

You will get a notification via email and/or a pop-up notification when the archive is ready. If you want to download an archive of your data, you have to go to the website or the app.

What’s in the Twitter data you get?

You can get the ZIP file on a PC, Mac, or Linux. In that folder, you can open "Your archive.html" in a standard web browser and look through your local data on your computer, which is hosted on your computer in that folder.

You can download the data for your account from a ZIP file, which you can view in a local web browser on your computer or Mac.

A note about direct messages

If one person in the chat doesn't remove the direct messages, they will remain in the server. If you chat with someone else, they will still have a copy of your shared history. If both people in the direct message chat deleted it, it would disappear from your archive. If you want to remove sensitive messages from the other party's chat history, you need to ask them to do the same.

How to deactivate your Twitter account

If you downloaded your data and feel like you're ready to take the more drastic step of deactivating your account, you can log in to the website or open the account on the app.

"Deactivate your account" can be found using the sidebar. Some of the information on that page isn't clear about deletion. It can be reversed for up to 30 days. Your account will be deleted after that.

Click "Deactivate."

You will need to enter your password after clicking "Deactivate"

Within a few minutes, your account will be disabled and you will no longer be able to use it. You can log in again within 30 days if you change your mind. If you don't log in again within 30 days, you'll lose your account.