You exported your Snapchat memories, downloaded everything, and opened your photo app expecting to see years of memories organized by date. Instead, every single photo shows today’s date. Your timeline is ruined. Your vacation photos from 2019 are mixed with last week’s selfies.
The problem is not your photo app. The problem is that Snapchat stripped all the important information from your files when you downloaded them. That information still exists, but it is stored separately in a file called memories_history.json. Understanding what this file contains and how to use it is the key to a successful export and properly organized memories.
JSON stands for JavaScript Object Notation. According to json.org, it is a lightweight data format that uses human-readable text to store and transmit data. You can open a .json file in any text editor like Notepad or TextEdit. When companies need to give you your data, they often use JSON because it is standardized and portable. Snapchat uses it to provide the metadata about your memories that does not get embedded in the actual photo and video files.
When you request a data export from Snapchat through accounts.snapchat.com, you get a ZIP file containing your memories and several data files. The memories_history.json file is the most important one for fixing your broken export.
Here is what a single entry in the file looks like:
{
"Date": "2025-06-07 08:48:26 UTC",
"Media Type": "Video",
"Location": "Latitude, Longitude: 22.5726, 88.3639",
"Download Link": "https://app.snapchat.com/dmd/memories?..."
}Each memory in the file contains four pieces of information. The Date field shows exactly when you captured that photo or video, down to the second, in UTC time. The Media Type tells you whether it is an image or a video. The Location field contains the GPS coordinates where you took the photo, if location was enabled when you captured it. The Download Link is the URL Snapchat uses to let you download the actual file.
Your JSON file contains one entry like this for every memory in your Snapchat account. If you have 5,000 memories, you have 5,000 entries in your JSON file.
Normally, when you take a photo with your phone, the camera embeds information directly into the file using a standard called EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format). This metadata includes the DateTimeOriginal field, which indicates when the picture was taken, GPS coordinates for location, and other camera settings. Photo gallery apps like Apple Photos and Google Photos read this embedded EXIF data to organize your timeline and power features like map view.
Snapchat’s export process does not include this EXIF data in the downloaded files. Instead, all the metadata lives in memories_history.json. The files you download are essentially blank slates containing the image data but no information about when or where they were captured. When you import these files into any photo app, the app uses the only date it can find, the file modification date from when you downloaded it. That is why all your photos appear to be from “today.”
This creates several problems. Your timeline becomes meaningless since photos from years ago sit next to photos from last week. Map view stops working because files have no GPS coordinates. If you added text, stickers, or drawings to your snaps, Snapchat exports the overlay as a separate ZIP file that you need to merge yourself. The download process itself often fails because browsers are not designed for downloading thousands of files, leading to incomplete exports. This is covered in detail in why Snapchat exports fail.
The memories_history.json file is the key to restoring your photos to their correct dates and locations. Every piece of information your photo app needs exists in this file. The Date field maps directly to what should be the DateTimeOriginal EXIF tag. The Location coordinates should be the GPSLatitude and GPSLongitude EXIF tags.
The challenge is getting that information from the JSON file into the actual photo files. You cannot just copy and paste. The data needs to be written into the files in a specific format that photo apps understand.
This is where most people get stuck. Opening a 50,000 line JSON file and manually matching each entry to a photo file is not realistic. Even if you had the technical knowledge to write EXIF data using command-line tools, the process would take days or weeks for a large library.
The practical solution is to process your memories_history.json file with software that can read the metadata and write it into each corresponding photo and video file.
ExportSnaps handles this automatically. You upload your memories_history.json file and the app reads every entry. It downloads each file directly from Snapchat’s servers using the download links in the JSON, then writes the correct date, time, and GPS coordinates into the file as proper EXIF metadata. The app also merges any overlays automatically.
The result is a set of photos and videos that work correctly in any gallery app. Import them to Apple Photos, Google Photos, or any other app, and they will sort by their actual capture date. Map views will show where you took each photo. Your timeline will finally make sense.
For users with large libraries, ExportSnaps has been tested with over 1,163 GB of data and 64,790 files. Processing happens entirely on your computer, so your photos never leave your device. The app is free for up to 200 files and a $15 one-time fee for unlimited processing.
If you have not requested your data export yet, here is how to get the memories_history.json file:
Go to accounts.snapchat.com and log in. Navigate to My Data and select the option to export your data. Make sure you enable “Export your Memories” and “Export JSON Files” in the settings. Submit your request and wait for the email from Snapchat, which usually takes 24 to 48 hours but can be longer for large accounts.
When the download is ready, you will receive a ZIP file. Extract it and look for memories_history.json in the files. This is the file you need to fix your Snapchat export metadata.
JSON is not a spreadsheet format, so it will not open directly in Excel or Google Sheets as a table. You can open it in any text editor to view the raw data. Some online JSON viewers can display it in a more readable format, but this does not help you fix your photos. The data needs to be written into the photo files as EXIF metadata.
Snapchat’s export system was designed for simple data portability, not for preserving photos as they would appear in a gallery app. The download links expire after about 7 days, and the browser-based download process does not write metadata into files. The JSON format lets Snapchat provide all your data in a standardized way, even if it requires extra steps to make the photos usable.
If you do not see the file, you may not have enabled JSON export when requesting your data. Go back to accounts.snapchat.com, request a new export, and make sure “Export JSON Files” is toggled on. You need a fresh export since download links expire after about a week.
The file size depends on how many memories you have. The file itself is just text, so even with tens of thousands of entries it is usually only a few megabytes. The actual media files are what take up space. A library with 10,000 photos might have a 3-4 MB JSON file but 50+ GB of photos and videos.