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title: "What's Inside the X Archive? tweets.js Explained"
description: "When you download your X (Twitter) archive, you get a folder of files — and the most important one is tweets.js. It holds every tweet, like, and DM you ever..."
tags: [privacy, twitter, tutorial]
canonical_url: https://digital-footprint-health.shop/blog/whats-inside-x-archive-tweets-js
Downloaded your X archive and stared at tweets.js? Here's what's actually inside — and why it matters for your privacy.
tweets.js is NOT json
It's a JS file: a big array wrapped in a variable assignment. Strip the window.YTD... prefix and you've got parseable data.
What's in it
- Every tweet: text, timestamp, metadata
- likes.js, DMs, account.js
- Media folders = your full history
Why parse it
You can't manually delete 3,200+ tweets. Reading this file lets a tool target old, risky posts automatically.
First step to a clean footprint: understand the archive. What surprised you most in yours?
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