TweetDownload FAQ
What is TweetDownload?
TweetDownload is a service for Twitter users. It allows users to retrieve a dump of their Twitter posts (tweets) or other related information in a variety of different formats.
Why is TweetDownload useful?
You can use the results it fetches to save a local backup of your tweets which is useful in case of accidental deletion, deletion by rogue Twitter apps or account hijacking. In addition several of the formats we offer are well suited to processing by other apps (e.g. a CSV backup can easily be loaded into a spreadsheet).
How many tweets can I fetch/what are the limits of TweetDownload?
How much we can retrieve for you depends on which option you have selected. Here are the specifics for each option: -
Many of these restrictions are based on Twitter's API limitations.
| Option | Limit |
|---|---|
| My tweets | Up to 3,200 of your most recent tweets. |
| My tweets with replies/mentions | Up to 3,200 of your most recent tweets plus a variable amount of replies and mentions (800 in the best case but often a lot less). Some replies may be missing. The low limit on replies/mentions and varying amount is due to Twitter API limitations. |
| My followers and people I follow | Up to 1,500 users that you're following + up to 1,500 users following you. |
Can I restore the tweets I've saved to Twitter?
No, this service is for making a local copy only (this would be a nice feature to offer but it's currently not feasible with the functionality Twitter's API offers us).
Why does TweetDownload ask me to authorise it to update my profile, send direct messages etc. when it doesn't need this functionality?
Twitter allows apps to request one of three types of access to your account - read, read+write or read+write+direct messages. We can't request specific permissions individually. TweetDownload needs the highest level of access because it needs to be able to read your direct messages so that you can download a copy of them if you choose to. We won't use our access to your account for anything other than providing our download service and making a post to your feed to let your friends know you're using TweetDownload if you requested that we do so.
I'm having problems getting TweetDownload to work, is there anything I can do about it?
This site requires cookies to operate, so make sure that functionality is enabled in your browser. If you're still having problems try signing out of the site then back in or clearing the cookies stored by your browser. Occasionally Twitter refuses requests from apps (e.g. if it is overloaded), so there may from time to time be temporary problems with the service which are beyond our control.