You finally exported your Snapchat memories. Years of photos and videos downloaded to your computer. You import them into Apple Photos or Google Photos, expecting to scroll through memories organized by date and location.
Instead, everything shows as taken today. Your 2018 vacation appears after yesterday’s lunch. Photos from your graduation are mixed with last week’s selfies. The map view is completely empty. Your entire timeline is destroyed.
This is happening to everyone who exports Snapchat memories right now. With Snapchat’s 5GB storage limit forcing users to export or pay $3.99/month for Snapchat+, thousands are downloading their memories only to discover they’re completely disorganized and unusable.
When you export memories from accounts.snapchat.com, Snapchat provides a memories_history.json file that contains all your metadata: exact capture dates, GPS coordinates, timezone information, and media details. But the actual photo and video files come stripped clean.
Gallery apps like Apple Photos and Google Photos rely on EXIF metadata to organize your library. Fields like DateTimeOriginal tell the app “this photo was captured on March 12, 2019 at 2:47 PM.” GPS fields store latitude and longitude coordinates for map view.
Your Snapchat exported memories don’t have any of this. The files contain image data, but zero metadata. Gallery apps fall back to the file creation date, which is when you downloaded them. Every photo from the past five years now appears taken in 2025.
Searching by date returns nothing. Timeline view is useless. You can’t find photos from specific trips or events because the dates are completely wrong.
If you used Snapchat’s text captions, stickers, drawings, or filters, those overlays come as separate files. The base photo downloads as one file. The overlay downloads inside a zip file.
Now you have two versions of every memory. One without text. One with text buried inside a zip file. Your photo library shows duplicates. Finding the version you actually want requires manually opening zip files and comparing images.
For users with thousands of memories, this creates an organizational nightmare. You don’t know which files are base images versus which are overlays. Your library fills with seemingly identical photos that are actually different versions.
Snapchat exports files with cryptic names like “memories_00847.jpg” and “overlay_1293.zip.” No preview. No way to know what each file contains without opening it. Organizing 5,000 files named “memories_XXXXX” is impossible. You can’t identify photos by filename. You can’t search for specific memories. Everything requires manual inspection.
Before we fix your export, let’s define what “organized” means for photo libraries:
You have two options: manual processing (weeks of work) or automated processing (minutes). Let’s cover both.
Some users attempt to fix the organization manually using photo editing tools and EXIF editors:
This approach works technically. But for a library of 10,000 memories, you’re looking at 200+ hours of work. One user on Reddit attempted this for 2,000 photos and gave up after three days.
The bigger problem: human error. Manually typing coordinates like “22.621292, 88.448205” into thousands of files guarantees mistakes. Mismatch one digit, and that photo’s location is wrong forever.
ExportSnaps is a desktop app (macOS and Windows) that reads your memories_history.json file and automates everything:
The app has been tested with libraries up to 1,163.34 GB containing 64,790 files. It costs $15 one-time (no subscription) and includes unlimited processing.
Step 1: Request Proper Export from Snapchat
Go to accounts.snapchat.com. Navigate to My Data. Toggle ON both “Export your Memories” AND “Export JSON Files.” The JSON file is critical; your entire metadata lives there.
Select your date range (usually “All Time”). Submit the request. Snapchat emails you when ready (24-48 hours). Download the ZIP file and extract it.
Step 2: Upload JSON to ExportSnaps
Open ExportSnaps. Drag the memories_history.json file into the upload area. The app validates the file and shows you a summary: total files, images versus videos, how many have GPS data, and estimated download size.
Step 3: Configure Settings
Choose your timezone (affects how dates display). Select the output folder location on your computer. Toggle “Merge Overlay Text” ON to automatically combine overlays with base images. Toggle “Remove Duplicates” ON if you have duplicate memories in your export.
Step 4: Start Processing
Click “Start Export.” The app downloads files from Snapchat’s servers, embeds metadata, merges overlays, and saves organized files to your output folder. Real-time progress shows current file, speed, and estimated time remaining.
For a 50GB library, expect 30-60 minutes depending on your internet speed. The app handles everything automatically.
Step 5: Handle Failed Files (If Any)
If some files fail (network timeout, temporary server error), ExportSnaps creates failed.json in your output folder. Load this file back into the app. Process it the same way. Only failed memories will download. Repeat if needed.
Step 6: Import to Gallery App
Your organized memories are now in the output folder. Drag them into Apple Photos, Google Photos, or any gallery app. Photos automatically sort by capture date. The map view shows locations. Timeline is correct.
Additional resources: Learn more about fixing Snapchat metadata issues and understanding date/time problems.
Some users ask whether uploading Snapchat exported memories to Google Drive or Dropbox before processing them makes sense. The answer: no.
Cloud storage services don’t fix metadata. They store files as-is. Uploading 50GB of broken exports to Google Drive gives you 50GB of broken exports in the cloud. The dates are still wrong. GPS coordinates are still missing.
You need to fix metadata first, then upload to cloud storage if desired. Process locally with a tool that embeds EXIF data, then back up the corrected files.
Snapchat announced that memories exceeding the 5GB free limit may be deleted after September 1, 2026. Users have until then to either subscribe to Snapchat+ or export their memories.
This deadline is creating a massive wave of exports. Millions of users are downloading years of memories for the first time. Most don’t realize their exports are broken until after importing them.
Processing your export properly now prevents losing years of memories to date confusion and organizational chaos. Once Snapchat deletes old memories, you can’t re-export them.
Your Snapchat exported memories don’t have to stay disorganized. The files contain your actual photos and videos; they need proper metadata embedded so gallery apps can sort them correctly.
Processing the memories_history.json file with a tool designed for this specific problem fixes dates, restores GPS coordinates, merges overlays, and handles failures intelligently. Your timeline becomes accurate. Map view works. Finding specific memories takes seconds instead of hours.
The difference between browsing a properly organized library versus a broken export is immediate. Photos appear chronologically. Searching by date actually works. You can relive memories instead of hunting through randomly-named files.
No. Desktop apps like ExportSnaps create new files with embedded metadata. Your original downloads remain untouched. You can keep both versions if desired, though the organized versions are what you’ll import to gallery apps.
Processing time depends on library size and internet speed. A 10GB export (roughly 2,000-3,000 memories) typically takes 15-30 minutes. A 100GB export might take 2-3 hours. The process is fully automated, so you can start it and let it run.
Not effectively. Processing requires desktop software that can read JSON files, download from CDN links, and embed EXIF metadata. Mobile apps lack these capabilities. You need macOS or Windows.
That’s normal. Only memories captured with location services enabled contain GPS data. The app will embed dates and other metadata for all files, and GPS coordinates for memories that have them in the JSON.
Keep it as a backup. If you ever need to reprocess your export (maybe you missed some settings, or want to retry failed files later), the JSON file contains all your metadata. It’s small (usually under 50MB, even for huge libraries), so keeping it costs nothing.
Yes. The memories_history.json format has been consistent. As long as you requested your export with “Export JSON Files” toggled ON, the file structure is the same whether you exported in 2022 or 2025.
