What Facebook data does PostSnag capture, and what does it never capture?

PostSnag captures public Facebook post data only: the post's text, type, media, engagement, the author's public name and username and avatar, the post's URL, and the date and time it was posted. For videos and reels, that media now includes the real, playable video file, plus a cover image and the video's duration. PostSnag never captures private or friends-only posts, Messenger or direct messages, Stories, live video, or anything behind a login you don't have.

If a piece of content isn't already visible to you on Facebook, PostSnag can't see it either. That's not a setting you configure; it's a mechanical limit of how capture works.

What's captured from each post

• Post text (caption), exactly as written.
• Post type: text, photo, video, reel, album, or link.
• Media: for photos and albums, the images themselves, capped at 20 images per post. For videos and reels, the real playable video file, a cover image, and the video's duration.
• Engagement: a reaction total, plus the like, love, haha, wow, sad, and angry breakdown where Facebook's own page provides it (Facebook's "Care" reaction isn't tracked as a separate field), along with comments, shares, and video views. The full reaction breakdown shows in the panel and dashboard; an exported Markdown or CSV file carries the reaction total only, not the type-by-type split.
• The author's public details: name, username, and avatar.
• The original post's URL.
• Date and time posted, down to the exact timestamp where Facebook provides one.

For the full field-by-field breakdown, see What data does PostSnag capture from each post?

Videos and reels: PostSnag now saves the real file

For video and reel posts, PostSnag captures the actual playable video file, not just a cover image or a link back to it. Alongside the file, it also saves a cover image and the video's duration. This is a change from earlier behavior, when only a cover image and metadata were saved. Everything else about a video post works the same as any other post: its caption, reaction total and breakdown, comments, shares, views, and exact date and time are all captured the same way. Once a video is in your dashboard, you can pull the file itself through your dashboard's export options.

[SCREENSHOT: A captured reel showing its cover image, duration, and the saved video file]

What's captured when you capture a whole profile

Scanning a profile also reads its public profile fields: display name, avatar, cover image, bio, and follower, following, or friend counts, along with verification status. These are the same details anyone visiting that profile could see, without being signed in as you or being that person's friend.

[SCREENSHOT: A captured profile card showing name, avatar, bio, and follower count alongside its captured posts]

What PostSnag never captures

• Private or friends-only posts.
• Messenger messages or direct messages.
• Stories.
• Live video.
• The text or authors of individual comments. PostSnag captures how many comments a post has, not what people wrote in them or who wrote them.
• Anything behind a login you don't have. If you'd need to sign in as someone else, or be someone's friend, to see it, PostSnag can't see it either.

Why only public data

PostSnag reads what's already loading in your own signed-in Facebook session as you scroll. It doesn't have a separate path into Facebook, an API key, or elevated access, so it's mechanically limited to whatever your own browser can already see. That's what keeps private content, Messenger, and anything else behind a login out of reach by design, not by a setting you have to configure. Capturing the real video file for a public video or reel works the same way: PostSnag reads it from the same public page your own browser already loaded, not from anywhere you couldn't already reach yourself.

A few edge cases worth knowing

• Shared or tagged posts. If a profile's own feed includes something shared from, or tagging, someone else, PostSnag captures it attached to whichever profile page you were actively viewing, the same way it would look to anyone visiting that profile directly.
• Posts from inside a Facebook Group. Capturing a member's profile from inside a group, or capturing a whole group's feed directly, tags those posts to that group and keeps them separate from that person's own profile posts. See How do Facebook Groups work in PostSnag?
• Content that's still loading. Media and captions that haven't finished loading on the page yet may not be captured on that pass. Scrolling back over a post, or rescanning, lets PostSnag pick up anything it missed the first time.

Common questions

Does PostSnag ever capture Messenger or DMs?

No. PostSnag has no access to Messenger or direct messages, and never captures them.

Can PostSnag capture a private or friends-only profile?

No. If you can't already see a post or profile because of Facebook's own privacy settings, PostSnag can't see it either.

Does PostSnag store the actual video file?

Yes, for videos and reels. PostSnag captures the real playable video file, along with a cover image and the video's duration.

Does PostSnag capture Stories or live video?

No. Stories and live video are never captured.

Does PostSnag capture what people write in the comments?

No. PostSnag captures a post's comment count, not the text or authors of individual comments.

Related articles

• What data does PostSnag capture from each post?
• What can and can't PostSnag capture?
• What data does PostSnag collect about me?
• Does PostSnag sell my data?
• How do Facebook Groups work in PostSnag?

PostSnag is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Meta Platforms, Inc.