How to Export Character.AI Chats, Save Them and Keep Playing Them

Character.AI filed for Chapter 11 on 12 October 2026 and is being sold. Is Character AI shutting down? covers what the sale means for your chats. This guide covers the backup itself: request your export today, save the chats you can't wait for, and bring them somewhere you can keep playing.

Start chatting in one tap

Your export is weeks away, and your stories don't have to wait. Each of these Stories opens on the kind of character Character.AI made famous. Open one, choose Enter, type the name you want to be called and write your first line. Your first 20 turns need no sign-in.

• Zeno Stokeleigh in Mafia Husband: Is He Like the Rumors?: you're waiting in the dressing room before a wedding meant for your sister when the mafia boss every rumor warns about slips his arms around you, and his voice is nothing like the stories.
• Oscar Kessler in The Yandere Husband: silk sheets, a locked door, and a man who brushes your hair back while he explains, very gently, that you're staying.
• Lucien Hart in Vampire Roommate: you climb to the attic with a kitchen knife and find your new roommate, gold-eyed and apologetic, licking blood from his fingers.
• Lionel Nash in The Husband Who Stays Cold: your arranged marriage to the CEO everyone fears was all business. Now he has fallen for you first, and his cold act has no idea what to do about it.

How to export your Character.AI data on the website

Character.AI's help article How do I download my data? gives these steps:

1. Go to your Profile on character.ai.
2. Click Profile Settings.
3. Click Account.
4. Click Manage Account & Data.
5. Click Export Data. A pop-up confirms that you'll receive an email with a link to download your data.

How to export Character.AI chats in the app

1. Open your Profile.
2. Tap the Settings icon.
3. Tap Legal & Privacy.
4. Tap Export Data. A "Success" banner appears once your request is in.

What's in the Character.AI export and how long it takes

Character.AI doesn't publish a list of the files in the ZIP, and you don't need to open it. The files that matter for your chats are JSON files named user.json, character.json and message.json, and Teasa's importer reads the ZIP as it arrives: it finds every character you've chatted with and counts each one's chats and messages.

Download the ZIP the day the email lands and keep a copy somewhere safe, such as your computer and a cloud drive. That file is your Character.AI backup, and you can import from it again whenever you like.

Faster: save Character.AI chats today with CAI Tools

CAI Tools is a browser extension for Character.AI made by an independent developer, Muhammed İrşat, not by Character.AI. It has 50,000 users on the Chrome Web Store and is also on Firefox Add-ons, both at version 3.8.3, updated on 15 October 2026. Its listing promises "Download Chats as readable or transferable" and "Download Characters as Cards". It's free to install; a premium tier on Patreon adds extras such as background and font managers, and Download history and chat downloads are part of the standard features.

How to save every Character.AI chat with CAI Tools Download history:

1. Add CAI Tools to Chrome from the Chrome Web Store, or to Firefox from Firefox Add-ons. Its developer has tested it on Chrome, Firefox and Opera on a computer, and Firefox works on Android too.
2. Open character.ai in that browser and open a chat with the character you want to keep.
3. Open CAI Tools from its button in the top-right corner of Character.AI, or from the extension icon.
4. In the History section, click Download history (next to Import chat). CAI Tools fetches every chat you've had with that character and shows how many it found, such as "Count: 12".
5. Leave the range as it is to keep every chat, or pick a range, then click Start. CAI Tools saves one page named History_with_<Character_Name>.html, or Chat_with_<Character_Name>.html when you have a single chat with that character.
6. Repeat for each character, then drop all the files on teasa.ai/en/cai at once.

CAI Tools saves chats in these formats, and Teasa imports every one of them:

Download history is the quickest way to Teasa: one file per character, with every chat inside. CAI Tools also has Offline History, which fetches a character's entire history, including chats from Character.AI's old system, after you click Start fetch; to bring chats to Teasa, use Download history. For the characters themselves, CAI Tools downloads Character Cards (an avatar is required for a card) or .json files. A downloaded character card goes straight into Teasa's Bring a character, which turns it into a private Character you can chat with right away.

Character.AI export or CAI Tools? Do both. CAI Tools saves every chat you've had with a character in one file, in minutes. The official export covers your whole account in one ZIP within three to four weeks. Teasa brings up to 30 characters in one import, from either one or both together.

How to import your Character.AI chats into Teasa

Open the Character.AI importer at teasa.ai/en/cai

Teasa reads the history and chat pages (.html) CAI Tools saves, Character.AI's emailed ZIP or the JSON files inside it, and CAI Tools' Tavern (.jsonl) and Oobabooga (.json) files, in any mix and all in one go. It reads them right in your browser and never signs in to Character.AI.

1. Open the importer. Go to teasa.ai/en/cai in any browser. If you aren't signed in, Teasa asks you to create a free account first, so your Characters and Stories are saved to you.
2. Choose your files. Click Choose your files and pick them all at once: every CAI Tools history file, the ZIP from Character.AI's email, Tavern and Oobabooga files, or any mix of them. On a computer you can also drop them on "Drop your Character.AI chats here" or anywhere on the page. Teasa shows "Reading your chats…" while it reads them in your browser; the files themselves are never uploaded.
3. Pick your characters. Under Choose your characters, every character in your files is listed newest first, with its number of chats and messages. A character found in several files appears once with all of its chats, and a chat saved twice, such as in a History file and again as a Chat file, comes over once, keeping the longer copy. Tick the ones you want, up to 30 in one import, or use Select all.
4. Bring them over. Click Bring with the number you picked, such as Bring 12 to Teasa. Only the picked characters' messages are sent. Keep the tab open while they upload.
5. Keep playing. Your chats come over in the background, and you can keep using Teasa in the meantime. Each finished character shows Continue the story, and every finished Story appears in your Chats on the web and in the Android app.

Importing is free, and your first import adds 3 days of Teasa Pass to a confirmed account: sign in with Google or Apple, or confirm your email. When your first Story is saved, the page shows A gift on us: 3 days of Teasa Pass. If your email isn't confirmed yet, the page asks you to confirm it, and your Pass starts the moment you do.

Each account imports a set number of characters a day, with more on Teasa Pass. Your import shows how many arrive today; the rest wait their turn and arrive at the time it shows, with nothing more for you to do.

What carries over from Character.AI and what doesn't

What doesn't come over:

• Character.AI's own character definitions and avatars. Teasa writes each Character from your chat and draws it a fresh portrait. To bring a character's exact card, download it with CAI Tools and use Bring a character.
• The swipes you didn't choose.
• Messages CAI Tools couldn't read. Lines it saved as "[Filtered message]" or "[Message is empty]" are left out.
• Anything public. Imported Characters and Stories are private to you and never listed.

The imported history doesn't count against any allowance, and the Story plays in Teasa's chat styles: Hojicha by default, with Matcha and Oolong for longer memory. Start a new conversation in the same Story any time, and it opens from the Character's first line.

Troubleshooting

The Character.AI export email hasn't arrived

The export can take three to four weeks, so give it time. The link goes to the email address on your Character.AI account, and Character.AI says it can't change that address. If the wait has run long, use the checks Character.AI's help centre gives for its sign-in emails: look in spam or junk and mark the email "Not Spam", add Character.AI to your contacts and make sure it isn't blocked, and clear space if your inbox is full. For anything else, submit a ticket through Character.AI's help centre. Meanwhile, save your chats with CAI Tools' Download history and keep playing them on Teasa today.

The download link expired

The link works for seven days from the time the email is sent. Request the export again with the same steps, then download the ZIP the day it arrives and keep a copy.

Which file do I choose?

• From CAI Tools: choose every History_with_<Character_Name>.html and Chat_with_<Character_Name>.html file Download history saved, all at once. Offline chat .html, Tavern (.jsonl) and Oobabooga (.json) files work too, and you can mix them in the same import.
• From Character.AI's email: choose the ZIP exactly as it downloaded. If your computer unzipped it for you, choose user.json, character.json and message.json together.

You can choose CAI Tools files and the export ZIP together. One import brings up to 30 characters; bring the rest in another import.

If Teasa says "That file didn't work", the message under it tells you what to choose:

• "This file is too large to read. Choose the ZIP exactly as Character.AI sent it."
• "Teasa can't read this file. Choose CAI Tools history files (.html), the ZIP from Character.AI's email, or CAI Tools .json and .jsonl chats."
• "No chats were found in these files. Choose CAI Tools history files or your Character.AI export."

The CAI Tools button is missing

A browser can switch off an extension's permissions when it updates. Open your browser's extensions page, open CAI Tools and turn its permissions back on.

My upload stopped

Check your connection and click Try again. If you closed the tab, the importer offers Finish bringing your chats: choose the same files again and it carries on from where it stopped.

FAQ

How do I export my Character.AI chats?

On character.ai, go to Profile, Profile Settings, Account, Manage Account & Data, then click Export Data. In the app, go to Profile, the Settings icon, Legal & Privacy, then Export Data. Character.AI emails a download link to the address on your account when the export is ready.

How long does the Character.AI export take?

Character.AI says the export can take three to four weeks. The download link works for seven days from the time the email is sent, so download the ZIP as soon as it arrives.

Can I save Character.AI chats without waiting?

Yes. CAI Tools, a free browser extension for Chrome and Firefox, saves every chat you've had with a character in minutes: open a chat on character.ai, open CAI Tools and choose Download history. Repeat for each character and drop all the files into Teasa at once to keep playing. Request the official export as well, since it covers your whole account.

Can I import CAI Tools history files into Teasa?

Yes. Open teasa.ai/en/cai, click Choose your files and pick every History_with_ and Chat_with_ file CAI Tools saved, or drop them all on the page. Teasa lists each character with its chats: the most recent chat continues as a private Story and the earlier ones become its story so far. Tavern and Oobabooga files and Character.AI's export ZIP can go in the same import.

Is CAI Tools made by Character.AI?

No. CAI Tools is made by an independent developer, Muhammed İrşat, and listed on the Chrome Web Store and Firefox Add-ons. Its privacy policy says it doesn't collect or store personal data apart from Patreon user IDs for its premium tier.

Can I import Character.AI chats into another app?

Yes. Teasa imports CAI Tools' Download history files, Character.AI's data export and CAI Tools' Tavern and Oobabooga files, several at once, and continues each character you pick as a private Story. CAI Tools' Tavern and Oobabooga files are also made for SillyTavern and Oobabooga's Text generation web UI.

Do I need my Character.AI password to import?

No. Teasa never signs in to Character.AI and never asks for your Character.AI login; you bring the files. Character.AI has used no passwords since 30 July 2024: you sign in with Google, Apple or an emailed link.

Is importing free?

Yes. Importing your Character.AI chats into Teasa is free, and your first import adds 3 days of Teasa Pass to a confirmed account: sign in with Google or Apple, or confirm your email. Each account imports a set number of characters a day, more with Teasa Pass.

Are my imported chats private?

Yes. Each imported Character and Story is private to you and never listed. Teasa reads your files in your browser and sends only the messages of the characters you pick.

Can I play my imported Character.AI chats on my phone?

Yes. Imported Stories appear in Chats on the web and in Teasa's Android app. The importer runs in the browser at teasa.ai/en/cai.

Keep reading

• Is Character AI shutting down?: the Chapter 11 sale, Disney's bid and what happens next.
• Character AI online: the website, login and plans while the sale runs.
• Character AI alternatives compared with Teasa: Stories, quests, milestones and memory side by side.
• The best AI roleplay apps: 17 apps compared on story, memory, languages and free tier.

Sources

Checked 24 October 2026.

• Character.AI Help Center: How do I download my data? (edited 8 October 2026), How can I change my email address?, Troubleshooting: Not Receiving Login or Verification Emails and Does Character.AI use passwords?.
• CAI Tools listings: Chrome Web Store (version 3.8.3, updated 15 October 2026, 50,000 users, developer, in-app purchases and privacy disclosures) and Firefox Add-ons (version 3.8.3, updated 15 October 2026, author, Firefox and Firefox for Android).
• CAI Tools Guide: Features (Download Chat formats, Offline History, Download Character), Platforms, Premium Features, Premium / Free trial and Privacy Policy; the developer's guide linked from the listings, Permissions (revoked permissions, "the same for CAI Tools"); and the CAI Tools GitHub repository for bug reports.
• CAI Tools 3.8.3's own code, checked 25 October 2026: the History section's Download history and Import chat buttons, the chat count and range before Start, and the History_with_<Character_Name>.html and Chat_with_<Character_Name>.html pages Download history saves.