GUIDE · 2026-10-16
Export your Character.AI chats and characters (2026)
Step-by-step: request your Character.AI data export, what the archive contains, how long it takes, and how to keep your characters talking in another app.
Request the export now
The official export is slow: Character.AI’s help center says processing takes 3–4 weeks, and the download link in the e-mail works for 7 days (Character.AI help). If you care about your characters, request it today.
Where the button is
On the web: Profile → Profile Settings → Account → Manage Account & Data → Export Data. In the mobile app: Profile → settings icon → Legal & Privacy → Export Data. You will get a confirmation, then an e-mail with a download link when the archive is ready.
What is inside
Independent guides describe a ZIP archive of JSON files — your account, your characters and your messages (Notebookcheck, LonelyTavern guide). The help center does not list the exact contents, and some users report very long chats arriving incomplete. Keep the archive somewhere safe and check it as soon as it arrives.
Back up the essentials by hand too
While you wait, copy the name, greeting, short description and definition of the characters you care about into a note. That is enough to recreate a character anywhere, even if the export is late or incomplete.
Bring your characters to Persony
Open Persony, choose Import persona and upload the .zip. Persony reads the archive on your device and lists the characters it finds; your chats inside the archive are never uploaded. Preview a character and save it privately — only that character is sent. If your archive is laid out differently and nothing is found, paste the name, greeting, description and definition instead. Character cards (.png or .json, V2/V3) work too. Conversation history is not imported.
Only your own material
Import characters you created or are allowed to use. Do not import protected fictional characters or real people without permission. Persony is for adults 18+, and every persona is clearly an AI.
Independent project
Persony is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Character.AI. Character.AI is a trademark of its owner and is named here only to identify that service. Steps above follow the Character.AI help center as of 16 October 2026 and may change.
Questions
Is a persona a real person?
No. Every persona is an AI and can be wrong. Persony is for adults 18+.
Can I control what it remembers?
Yes. The Memory page lets you review, edit, switch off and delete saved memories.
Is it free?
Every account gets a free allowance of messages and voice minutes that does not expire by time. Plus costs $9.99 a month or $79 a year.