Manual method
- Visit reddit.com/settings/data-request in a computer browser and sign in.
- Complete the request form for the account and desired scope.
- Wait for the Reddit inbox notification and follow its download link.
- Save and extract the archive. Review the included files and download your own important linked media separately.
What you get: This is an account-data request, not an export of entire communities or every comment in other people’s threads. Keep the archive’s supplied tables intact and note missing media or messages instead of assuming completeness. Provider instructions.
Size and waiting time
Planning example: 0.1 GB; light/heavy scenarios: 0.005–1 GB. These are estimates, not a measured population average or fixed limits. Years of posts, comments and account records in text form. Image/video originals need separate storage where available.
Preparation: Reddit states preparation may take up to 30 days.
Network transfer of 0.1 GB: about 2 min at 10 Mbps, 23 sec at 50 Mbps, or 11 sec at 100 Mbps. This assumes 70% sustained throughput and excludes preparation, manual work and extraction. These are download estimates; online backup takes additional time at your upload speed. Transfer calculations and large-file examples.
Store and check your archive
An encrypted folder on your computer is suitable for this small report; keep a second copy on an external drive. Allow roughly 0.3 GB of working space for the example, including an original, an extracted working copy and room to check it. Very compressed packages can need more. A USB key is useful for a spare copy, but should not be the only one. An encrypted online copy protects against losing the local devices.
Keep the original in reddit/YYYY-MM-DD/original/. Record the account alias, selected scope, date range and missing items. Open old and recent records and sample attachments offline, then compare file sizes or checksums after copying. Keep the source account until you have checked the result. Storage and recovery instructions.
Sources and review
Public documentation was reviewed on 27 October 2026. No signed-in export or restoration was performed. Account options and availability can change; follow the current provider instructions.