Kept Chats

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Photos and files from a Skype export

The photos people sent you on Skype are not in messages.json. They are in the files export, in a folder called media, under names that mean nothing on their own. Kept Chats puts them back in the conversation.

Updated 2 November 2026

Where the photos are

Skype's export page offered two things: Conversations and Files. The files export is a .tar with a media folder inside. Each photo, video, voice message or document is stored under a long code, such as 0-weu-d3-4f1c….1.jpg, often with a small .json file beside it that records the original file name.

The code is the same one Skype wrote into the message that shared it. That is how the two can be matched up again.

See them in your conversations

  1. Open your conversations export on this page.
  2. Press Add photos and files at the top and choose the files export (the second .tar). You can also choose both files together at the start.
  3. Photos appear in the messages where they were sent. Select a photo to see it larger and save it.

Videos and voice messages play in the conversation when your browser supports the format. Documents are listed with their name and size, with a button to save a copy. Nothing from the export is opened as a web page, for safety.

If some photos are missing

  • Only conversations were exported. Without the files export, each photo shows as a placeholder with its original name.
  • Skype had already let the file expire. Skype did not keep every file for ever. Some exports simply don't include older files, and there is no other copy on Skype's side.
  • The photo was sent in a group you left. Exports can leave those out.

Saving photos

Open a photo and use Save photo to keep a copy. The saved file is the original Skype stored, at its full size.