Unfriended

How to download your Facebook friends list

Facebook lets you download a copy of your friends list, with the date each friendship began. It takes about a minute to ask for, and Facebook prepares the file within minutes to a few hours. The steps below are for the Facebook app on iPhone.

What to choose

Information
Friends, and Followers
Date range
All time
Format
JSON

  1. Open the menu

    In the Facebook app, go to your profile and tap the menu (☰) in the top left.

  2. Settings & privacy

    Scroll to the bottom of the menu and tap Settings & privacy, then Settings.

  3. Accounts Centre

    Under Your account, tap Accounts Centre.

  4. Your information

    Tap Your information and permissions, then Export your information.

  5. Create an export

    Tap Create export. Pick your Facebook profile, not Instagram, then choose Export to device.

  6. Pick the data

    Under Connections, tick Friends and Followers (two separate boxes), then save.

  7. JSON, all time

    Set Date range to All time and Format to JSON, then tap Start export.

  8. Download and import

    Facebook tells you when the file is ready. Tap Download, save the ZIP to Files, and import it into Unfriended. You have 4 days to download it.

Good to know

Do it twice

One export shows your friends today. A second one a few weeks later shows who left in between.

JSON, not HTML

Unfriended reads the JSON format. An HTML export can't be compared.

Names change

Friends who renamed themselves are matched by the second your friendship began, so they don't look like unfriends.

Nothing leaves your iPhone

Unfriended never uploads your export. It stays on the phone.

Checked against the Facebook app, October 2026.