How to export your data from Discord
Discord lets any user request a personal Data Package — a ZIP of JSON files covering your account, messages, servers, and activity — from User Settings > Data & Privacy. There is no admin/workspace export tool for a whole server; the export is per-user and can take up to 30 days to arrive by email.
✓ Verified against Discord's official documentation, September 2026
Step by step
- 1Make sure your Discord account has a verified email address — this is required before you can request data.
- 2Desktop/browser: click the cogwheel icon in the bottom-left of the app to open User Settings.
- 3Go to the Data & Privacy tab and scroll to 'Request your data'.
- 4Click the Request Data button, then in the Submit Data Request window choose which data categories you want (Account, Activity, Messages, Servers, etc.).
- 5Click 'Request My Data' to submit. You'll see a confirmation that the package can take up to 30 days.
- 6Mobile: tap your avatar > cogwheel > Data & Privacy > 'Request all of my data' and confirm (mobile requests all categories at once, no selective option).
- 7Wait for the email tied to your Discord account — Discord sends a download link once the package is ready.
- 8Download and unzip the package within 30 days; the link expires after that and you can only have one request in progress at a time.
What the export includes
- ✓Account info: user ID, username, phone/email, account settings, connected accounts (Twitch, Steam, etc.), active sessions, friends/block lists, payment history, developer/bot data
- ✓Activity data: analytics, personalization/modeling data, reporting data, and Trust & Safety data
- ✓Activities data (Discord's built-in games/apps like Watch Together, Poker Night, etc.)
- ✓Messages: full transcripts of DMs, group chats, and server channels you've posted in, with timestamps and CDN links to attachments
- ✓Servers: for servers you own — audit log, channel list with permissions, emoji, webhooks, and server settings; for servers you're a member of — last 90 days of audit log entries pertaining to your account plus server ID/name
- ✓Ads data: Quests engagement status and ad-targeting traits
- ✓Support Tickets: public comments, timestamps, subject and status of Zendesk help tickets tied to your account email
What it doesn't include
- ✗Manually deleted messages are not included — once deleted they're gone from Discord and won't appear in the package
- ✗Servers you left before requesting the data are generally not included (only current and 'recently-departed' servers)
- ✗Customer Support and Trust & Safety correspondence is excluded from the Messages folder since it happens outside the app
- ✗Actual attachment files are not bundled — messages only include a CDN link to images/files, which can expire or go dead
- ✗No bulk/whole-server export tool for owners — there is no way to export all messages and files of an entire server as an admin in one action; the export is scoped to your own account and activity
Before you start
- ⚠Processing can take up to 30 days to complete
- ⚠Only one data request can be in progress at a time — you must wait for the current one to finish before submitting another
- ⚠The download link is emailed to whatever address was on the account at request time; changing your email afterward does not redirect the link
- ⚠If you disable or delete your account before the download link arrives, the pending request is canceled
- ⚠The download link stays active for 30 days after it's sent, then expires
- ⚠Mobile requests always pull all data categories; only desktop/browser lets you pick specific categories
- ⚠If you've lost account access entirely, you must contact privacy@discord.com directly for your data
Where to take your data
Free and cheaper tools that can take a Discord export. See all Discord alternatives →
Slack Free
Slack has no native Discord-JSON importer. Use the exported message JSON as a reference archive and manually recreate channels/history in Slack, or use a third-party migration tool if your team needs message continuity.
Element
Element (Matrix) has no direct Discord data-package import either. Bridges like matrix-appservice-discord can link a live Discord server to Matrix rooms going forward, but the JSON export itself is not directly importable.
Exporting from Discord: common questions
Can I export an entire Discord server as an admin, including everyone's messages?+
No. Discord's official export tool (User Settings > Data & Privacy > Request Data) only returns data tied to your own account — your messages, your servers' settings if you own them, and activity data. There is no admin-level bulk export of all members' messages across a server.
What format is the Discord data package in?+
It's a ZIP file containing JSON files, organized into folders like Account, Activity, Activities, Messages, Servers, Ads, and Support Tickets. The JSON files can be opened in any text editor or dragged into a browser.
How long does it take to get my Discord data?+
Up to 30 days. Discord emails a download link to the address on your account once the package is ready, and that link stays active for 30 days before expiring.
Will deleted messages be included in my export?+
No. If you manually delete a message, it's no longer stored by Discord and won't appear in your Data Package.
Are message attachments (images, files) included in the export?+
Not as actual files. The message JSON includes a CDN link to any attachments, but the files themselves are not bundled into the ZIP.
Can I request my data more than once at a time?+
No, you must wait for your current data request to finish before submitting a new one; only one request can be in progress at a time.
Sources
This guide was written from Discord's own documentation and checked against it in September 2026. If a step has changed, the official page wins.
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