If your goal is to delete very old tweets, the official X / Twitter archive is often required. Normal timeline browsing does not reliably expose your entire posting history. Many accounts can only reach roughly the most recent 3,200 tweets through recent-timeline workflows.
Archive cleanup helps bridge that gap. You request your data from X, download the archive ZIP and import it into DeleteTweets so the extension can work from historical tweet records.
Request your X archive
Open X account settings and request your data archive. X may take time to prepare the file. Users commonly wait around a few days, so do this before you need the cleanup finished.
When X emails you that the archive is ready, download the ZIP file and keep it somewhere easy to find. Do not rename internal files inside the archive.
Import the archive into DeleteTweets
- Install DeleteTweets for Chrome or Edge.
- Sign in to x.com with the account you want to clean.
- Open DeleteTweets and choose the archive cleanup workflow.
- Upload the official archive ZIP.
- Choose tweets, replies, retweets or likes.
- Add date, keyword, engagement and exception filters.
- Start a controlled deletion run.
Large archive files can be memory intensive. Use the latest extension version available to you and avoid running other heavy browser tasks during import.
What if the archive file cannot be read?
First, make sure you are using the original archive ZIP. If the ZIP still cannot be read, unzip it and locate the expected data files. Depending on the workflow, DeleteTweets may ask for files such as tweets.js or likes.js.
If the browser freezes on a large file, close unused tabs, update to the latest extension version if available, and retry the import.
Archive cleanup still needs pacing
Archive mode identifies older history, but deletion still happens through the live X account in your browser. That means X rate limits still matter. Keep the browser open and use a steady pace instead of trying to erase years of posts instantly.
If Pro is required for your archive workflow, activate the Lemon Squeezy license key inside DeleteTweets. Buying Pro is not enough by itself; the extension needs the license key to unlock Pro permissions.
See the dedicated guide: Delete Tweets from Twitter Archive.