digital

How to Download Your Data From Google, Apple, and Facebook

By Jason Su · Updated October 13, 2026

Most of your photos, your messages, and your documents now live inside three companies: Google, Apple, and Facebook. All three will hand you a copy of everything you have stored with them, for free, whenever you ask. The only hard part is remembering to ask while you still can.

That is what this guide is for. It walks through the three export tools, what you need before you start, and where to put the finished files so your family can actually find them later.

There is no single button that covers all three. Each company has its own tool, its own sign-in, and its own idea of what counts as your data. The good news is that the shape is the same everywhere: ask, wait for the file, save it somewhere you own.

Platform	Tool	Start here	What you can get
Google	Google Takeout	takeout.google.com	Gmail, Photos, Drive, and more
Apple	Data & Privacy	privacy.apple.com	A copy of your Apple Account data, and a way to move iCloud Photos to Google Photos
Facebook	Download Your Information	Accounts Center, under Your information and permissions	Posts, photos, messages, and profile details

Why do this while you can still sign in

Every export below starts the same way: you sign in to the account. Not a relative, not a lawyer, not a customer-service agent. You.

If the password is lost and the two-factor codes are gone, the export may never happen at all. Access is the gate, and it closes quietly, usually years before anyone thinks to check. Do the export now, while signing in is still easy. The files you create today are the ones your family will actually receive.

There is a companion piece on the access problem itself: how to leave digital passwords to family.

What you need before you start

Gather these first, and none of them cost money:

• The account password, or a way to reset it.
• The phone, or the backup codes, for two-factor sign-in. Several of these tools will challenge you a second time.
• An external drive, or a large cloud folder, to hold the finished archive.
• An afternoon. Small accounts finish in minutes; large photo libraries finish overnight.

If the two-factor codes live in an app on an old phone, back them up before you begin. See how to back up two-factor codes.

Decide now where the archive will live when it finishes. A drive that is already plugged in beats a plan made at two in the morning.

Google: Takeout

Google’s tool is called Google Takeout, and it lives at takeout.google.com. Sign in, choose which Google products to include, and Google packages a copy of your data into an archive you download.

You do not have to take everything. Select just Photos, or just Gmail, or just Drive. For most people the priority is Photos and Drive, because that is where the pictures and the files actually live.

The finished archive is arranged by product, so the photos land in one folder and the mail in another. You can also choose how the archive is delivered, which helps when the files are too large for a single download.

A lifetime of photos can be enormous. Export Photos by itself rather than everything at once, and let the download run for a few hours, or overnight, instead of watching it.

If the Google account belongs to someone who has passed, timing matters more than technique. See what to do with someone’s email account, which covers the activity rules that can close a Google account down.

Apple: Data & Privacy

Apple’s export lives at privacy.apple.com, on a page called Data & Privacy. Sign in with your Apple Account and ask for a copy of your data. Apple puts it simply: you can get a copy of “the data that you store with Apple that’s associated with your Apple Account” (Apple Support).

One shortcut is especially useful. The same page lets you transfer a copy of your data directly to another service, including moving iCloud Photos straight into Google Photos. If photos are the goal, that transfer is often faster than downloading and then re-uploading.

The copy covers the data tied to your Apple Account, including what you store in iCloud. You will need your Apple Account password, and Apple may ask you to confirm your identity before the request goes through.

One caution: the same page also holds the buttons to deactivate or permanently delete the account. Do not confuse them with the download button.

Facebook: Download Your Information

Facebook’s tool is called Download Your Information, inside Accounts Center under Your information and permissions. Request a download of your profile, and Facebook builds an archive of your posts, photos, and messages, then tells you when it is ready.

If more than one profile sits under the same login — Facebook and Instagram, for example — you choose which one to download. The download link is temporary, so save the file to your own drive when it arrives, and check that the photos you care about actually made it into the archive.

If the account belongs to someone who has passed, Facebook has a separate path: the family can ask to memorialize the account or to remove it. That process is covered in memorialize or delete a Facebook account.

What to grab first

If you only have an afternoon, work through these in order:

• Photos. The one thing a family regrets losing, and usually the biggest download.
• Documents. Drive files, iCloud Drive files, and anything else stored in the account.
• Contacts and messages. Less sentimental, but often the only place a phone number or an address still exists.

Everything else, like search history and ad settings, can wait or be skipped.

Where to put the export

An export is useful only if it ends up somewhere safe and reachable. Three rules:

• Put it where the family can find it. An external drive in a drawer is fine, if someone knows which drawer. Record the location on the Digital Account Inventory.
• Keep a second copy. A single drive fails. Two copies, in two places, is the floor — the full method is in how to store digital photos so they survive.
• Do not trust the download link. Save the archive to a drive you own the moment it arrives.

If you exported photos, the Photo Storage Inventory helps you track where each copy lives.

The export also belongs with the rest of the family’s paperwork, not on a shelf by itself. If you keep a document binder or a digital account list, add one line for it now, while you remember.

What can go wrong

Here is what usually trips people up, in the order it happens:

• The two-factor code is on a phone you no longer have. Sort out account recovery before the export, not after.
• The archive is too big to download in one sitting. Start the largest export first and let it run overnight.
• The download link expires before you save it. These links are temporary by design. Save the file to your own drive the day it arrives.

None of these is fatal, and all three are easy to avoid with a little planning.

Make it a yearly habit

An export is a snapshot, not a one-time chore. New photos, new messages, and new documents pile up the moment you finish the last one.

Pick a day — a birthday, the first weekend of January — and run one export a year. You do not need all three every time. Export the account that holds your photos, and refresh the others when something big changes. Ten minutes a year keeps the snapshot from going stale.

Frequently asked

Does this cost anything?

No. All three exports are free, and there is no paid fast lane.

How long does it take?

It depends on the size. A small account is ready in minutes; a large photo library can take hours or overnight. The company tells you when the file is ready, so start the biggest export first and let it run.

Do I need the password, or can a family member do it?

To export while the account is active, you sign in to the account itself. There is no way to request another person’s export from the outside. That is the argument for doing this early, while signing in is still possible.

Can I export an account after someone has passed?

Usually not through these tools, because each one begins with a sign-in. If no one has the password, the company has its own, slower process — see what happens to your online accounts. This is the reason the export should happen before access is gone.

What if I only use one of these three?

Skip the other two. The principle is the same on every platform: find the export tool, run it once a year, and store the result somewhere the family can reach.

What does the export actually look like?

A large folder, usually compressed, with your files arranged by product. Photos in one folder, messages in another. You can browse it without any special software.

Should I delete the account after I export?

Not as part of the export itself. Exporting copies your data; it does not remove anything. Deleting an account is a separate, permanent step, and it is worth doing deliberately rather than in the same sitting. For Facebook the choice is usually memorialize or remove — see memorialize or delete a Facebook account.

What about Amazon, banks, and everything else?

The same idea applies everywhere. Most services have an export or a statement you can download, and the principle is identical: run it while you can still sign in, and store the result somewhere the family can reach. The Digital Account Inventory is built for keeping that list in one place.

Next step

Open takeout.google.com or privacy.apple.com today and start one export. Photos alone is enough for the first pass. When the file lands, copy it to a drive, note where it is, and tell one person where you put it.