Export your journal

The export is one ZIP archive. Inside, original full-resolution photographs are grouped by moment, journal.json records the journal details and moment data in a structured, readable form, and README.md explains the package.

That metadata includes the titles, field notes, dates, tags, and EXIF Moments has for the work. For HEIC, HEIF, or HIF uploads, export keeps the untouched original rather than offering only the JPEG made for browsers.

The same export also includes a static website. Public and unlisted moments, along with each available written page and collection, are rendered in the journal's own theme as plain HTML and CSS, with the web-sized photographs its pages load. Open index.html in a browser to read the journal offline. To put it online, keep the complete export safe and follow the README to prepare a hosting copy without private originals. A theme on Moments is a stylesheet, so theme.css is the whole look, yours to keep or edit.

The site shows what readers could already see: public moments on the front page, unlisted moments as pages nothing links to, and pages and collections while Moments Plus is in effect. Password-protected and unpublished moments are not rendered; their originals are kept in a separate private folder so they are easy to leave out of an upload.

Before hosting the site, keep the complete export safe and make a separate copy. The README explains how to remove the private folder and, when a host has file-size limits, the full-resolution originals that the pages do not load. It then walks through putting the prepared copy online for free on Netlify, Vercel, Cloudflare Pages, GitHub Pages, or any web server.

A static site cannot carry replies from the open web, passwords, the RSS feed, or share cards. The photographs and writing readers could see are there, and the complete private archive remains with you.

Open Settings, then Export, and choose Download export. Moments assembles the archive when requested. Large journals can take a while to package, so leave the tab open until the browser begins the download and make sure the destination has enough free space.

A downloaded export is a point-in-time copy. It covers journal details, moments, original photos, tags, stored EXIF, per-photo captions and alt text, plus the static website with its theme, navigation, pages and collections. It does not update when the journal changes and is not automatically stored in a second location. Make a fresh export after substantial work and keep ordinary backups of irreplaceable source photographs as well.

A custom domain complements export: the archive makes the content portable, while an address you own makes the public links more portable.

Deleting the account permanently removes the journal, moments, photographs, pages, and collections and releases the subdomain. Download and verify an export first if there is any chance you will want the work later.