The short version
- Request the official data export today. Character.AI says it can take 3 to 4 weeks, and the sale is expected around the end of November.
- Copy your characters’ text fields, including lorebook entries, into a document now. Do not wait for the export for these.
- Copy the few chats you would hate to lose into a document, then pick a next app that lets you export.
Do not delete your account first. Character.AI says deletion is permanent and cannot be reversed.
The bankruptcy: what has been reported
As of October 26, 2026, from the company’s own announcement, state filings and news coverage:
- Character Technologies, the company behind Character.AI, began a voluntary Chapter 11 case on October 12, 2026, in the federal bankruptcy court in Delaware, to run a court-supervised sale. Company update, TechCrunch.
- The company says the platform remains up and running and that you can continue to use all services at this time. It hopes the sale produces an offer that allows Character.AI to keep operating, and says that if no such offer arrives, the platform will be wound down. It expects the sale process to be complete by the end of November or perhaps early December 2026.
- The company says subscriptions remain active and billing is unchanged for now, and that it intends to notify subscribers in advance if paid features change. It also says your information remains protected under its Privacy Policy and that you can delete your account or export your data in the app or on the website.
- The opening bid, from Disney, is reported as $20 million for a non-exclusive, perpetual license to certain intellectual property, plus transition services. Other bidders can offer more. NBC News (Reuters).
- On October 15, a bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general filed a notice asking the court to address privacy and safety protections for consumers in any sale or transfer of the business. California Attorney General.
- On October 23, 31 states and the District of Columbia objected to the proposed sale rules. Among other things, they asked for a longer timeline and plain-language notice of the sale on the Character.AI platform, and reserved the question of whether a consumer privacy ombudsman is needed. PPC Land.
We did not find a statement about what happens to stored chats if the platform is wound down. A copy on your own device removes that question. Nothing here says the service will close. The aim is to give you a copy in either case.
Dates to watch
These dates are as reported on October 26, 2026. Proposed dates can change, and the court decides. We update this page after each one.
| Date | What is scheduled |
|---|---|
| October 30, 2026 | Court hearing on the rules for the sale (the bidding procedures), 10 a.m. Eastern. Source. |
| November 20, 2026 | Proposed deadline for bids. A group of states has asked for at least 21 more days. Source. |
| November 23, 2026 | Proposed auction among bidders. Source. |
| November 24, 2026 | Proposed sale hearing, where the court would decide whether to approve a sale. Source. |
If you request your export in the last week of October, the 3-to-4-week estimate puts its arrival close to the proposed sale hearing. That is one more reason to request it now and to copy what matters by hand in the meantime.
Step 1: request the official export
Character.AI’s help center describes how to request a copy of your account data. Because the export is queued, request it first.
On the website
- Open your Profile.
- Choose Profile Settings, then Account.
- Choose Manage Account & Data, then Export Data.
- A pop-up confirms that you will receive an email with a download link.
In the mobile app
- Open your Profile and tap the Settings icon.
- Tap Legal & Privacy, then Export Data.
- A confirmation appears when the request has been submitted.
If a menu looks different on your screen, follow the official help article linked below. The app can change.
What to expect
- Time. Character.AI says exports can take 3 to 4 weeks. Yours may arrive sooner, but plan for that estimate.
- Delivery. The link arrives by email at the address on your account and is valid for 7 days from the day it is sent. Download it the day it arrives, and check your spam folder. A missed link would probably mean a new request and a new wait.
- Contents. The help page does not list what the file contains. Open it when it arrives and check that the chats and characters you care about are in it. Keep the original file untouched and work from a copy.
Sources: How do I download my data? and How do I export all my data? in the Character.AI Help Center.
Step 2: copy your characters
A character is mostly text, and text is easy to carry. If you made the character, open its edit screen and copy each field into a document, one file per character. Character.AI’s creator guide lists the fields, so you can tick them off:
| What to copy | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Name and tagline | How the character presents itself. |
| Description | The short pitch other people see. |
| Greeting | The opening scene. It sets voice and tone more than any other field. |
| Definition | Personality, backstory, speech patterns and rules. It can hold up to 32,000 characters, including example dialogues. This is the field you most need to keep. Creator guide. |
| Example dialogues | Short exchanges that show how the character talks. They carry over to almost any app. |
| Lorebook entries | If you use Lorebooks, copy each entry’s title, content and keywords. Many apps have a similar feature, so these often move over almost as they are. Lorebooks guide. |
| Avatar image | Save the picture. You may be able to reuse it, depending on where it came from. |
| Your Persona | The profile characters read about you: your name, pronouns and the notes you wrote. |
If someone else made a character you love, you may not be able to see its definition. Save what you can see: the name, tagline, greeting and your favorite lines. If you rebuild it somewhere else, credit the creator and ask before you share it. They did the work.
Step 3: keep the chats that matter
The official export is the main route. For the handful of conversations you would be sad to lose, add a copy you control:
- Copy the text. Open the chat, scroll to the beginning so older messages load, select the text and paste it into a document. Check the end of the file to confirm the whole conversation came across. This is the most reliable method and works with any app.
- Print to PDF. On a computer, your browser’s Print command can save a chat as a PDF. Scroll to the start first, and check the PDF before you rely on it.
- Screenshots. A last resort. They keep the look of a scene but you cannot search or reuse the text.
- Third-party tools. Browser extensions and unofficial scripts that export Character.AI chats exist. We have not reviewed them. They need access to your logged-in session, so read what a tool does with your data before you use it, and do not share a password or token.
Also copy any notes or memory details you rely on for a character, so that you can paste them into the next one.
Choosing where to go next
You do not have to move anywhere. If you do, these questions apply to any character app, including ours:
| Ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Can I export my chats as readable text or JSON, on the free plan? | A copy you control is what makes a shutdown or a sale survivable. |
| Can I export characters in an open format? | Character Card V2 is the common interchange format. Many tools read it, so a character can move with you. |
| Can I see, edit and delete what it remembers? | Wrong or stale memory is easier to fix when you can read it, and you should be able to remove a detail you regret sharing. |
| Is there a place for lore and story notes? | A lorebook or similar keeps your world’s facts in one place, so you can paste in what you saved in Step 2. |
| What does it cost at my usage, in plain words? | Look for a price you can predict. If usage is metered, look for an estimate of replies per month. |
| Who runs it, and what is their policy if the service changes? | Read the privacy policy and the terms for data deletion and export. |
| Does it fit what you write? | Check the content rules, the age requirement and where it is available before you invest time. |
Rebuilding a character
In any app, a character rebuilds well from five pieces. Keep them in one document so you can paste them anywhere:
- Identity. Name, role and the one thing that makes them them.
- Personality. Concrete habits beat adjectives. “Answers questions with questions” says more than “mysterious”.
- Speech. Sentence length, slang, favorite phrases.
- Scenario and greeting. Where the first scene happens and the opening message.
- Two or three example exchanges. Your favorite lines from old chats make good examples.
A rebuilt character will feel close to the original and will differ in small ways. Models differ, and a character’s old chats shaped how it felt to you. Use the old chats as reference and give the new one a few conversations to settle.
One option: NYVELLE
We make NYVELLE, so weigh this section accordingly. It is one option among many, and the steps above work wherever you go.
NYVELLE is interactive fiction in your browser: a cast of 300+ characters with portraits and voices, group scenes, an Adventure mode with dice, and Write your own. Here is what is true today, including where it falls short.
- Free to start. You can send 3 free replies before you make an account. A free account has 30 messages a day, up to 10 voiced replies a day, no card and no ads. Sign-in uses a code sent to your email, or Google. Paid plans start at $4.99 a month; see pricing.
- Memory you can see, fix and forget. Memory is on for each character unless you turn it off. It saves short notes about what you tell it, and “Remember that …” saves something right away. Open Memory to correct a note, forget it, add a detail of your own or forget everything. Memory is imperfect, which is why it is editable. How memory works.
- A lorebook and story goals. Each of your characters can have a lorebook for places, people and rules (5 entries and 2,000 characters on the free plan, 25 and 8,000 on paid plans), so the lorebook entries you saved in Step 2 have somewhere to go. Story goals (3 active on the free plan, 10 on paid plans) tell the character what your story is working toward.
- Bring your characters and chats. Import a character from pasted details or a Character Card file, then bring an old chat in as its history and keep going. You review every character before it is saved.
- Export, on every plan. Download your chats and characters as a ZIP: chats as JSON and readable text, characters as Character Card V2, plus saved memories. You can also download an encrypted backup with your own passphrase. What is in the export.
- Voices. Every character has a voice, and any reply can be played aloud.
- Claude on request. Standard replies use DeepSeek V4.1 Flash. You can switch a one-to-one chat to Plus, which uses Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet 5.5, paid with gems. Ultra costs more.
Rebuild a Character.AI character in NYVELLE
- Choose Start free and sign in with the code sent to your email, or with Google.
- When you add a character, choose Write your own, then Import a character.
- Under Paste details, paste the name, tagline, description, greeting and definition you saved in Step 2. If you have a Character Card file (PNG or JSON, versions 1 to 3), use Card file instead. The card’s picture, lorebook entries and alternate greetings are not imported.
- Review every field, and shorten anything that does not fit (a character holds up to 12,000 characters of text). Pick a voice and a look. The app asks you to confirm that the character is a fictional adult, then you create it.
- To continue an old conversation, open Import a character again and choose Chat history. Pick the character and your chat file (SillyTavern .jsonl, a JSON export, or a text transcript where each line starts with who said it), check the message count, and choose Import chat. Long chats come in as their most recent 400 messages at most, with up to 40 of the character’s replies.
- Open the character’s Memory and paste your lore into its lorebook, one entry per place, person or rule.
- Send your next line, then adjust the description if the character drifts. Regenerate or edit any reply.
What NYVELLE does not do. It does not write a character for you: you bring or type the text yourself and review it before it is saved. Imported lines are checked like chat, so anything that breaks the content rules is left out. Characters can’t be doctors, nurses, therapists or any other medical or mental-health professional, so a card that makes one has to be changed before it can be created. It is safe for work, so it will not fit if you want adult content. It is for adults aged 21 and over, and available in the United States for now. Every character is a fictional adult. The cast is written for the app, so there is no library of user-made bots to browse, and it is run by one independent developer. If any of that rules it out, pick something else and use the checklist above.
Start free Fictional AI characters · Adults 21+ · No card required
Looking for a character to try? Browse the book boyfriends, the classics or the full grid. Questions about safety are answered on the Safety page.
Questions
Is Character.AI shutting down?
Not as of October 26, 2026. The company says the platform remains up and running. It hopes its court-supervised sale produces an offer that lets Character.AI keep operating, and says the platform will be wound down if no such offer arrives. It expects the sale process to finish by the end of November or perhaps early December 2026. Check the company's update for changes.
Is Disney buying Character.AI?
Disney has made the opening bid, but no sale had been approved as of October 26, 2026. As reported, that bid is $20 million for a non-exclusive, perpetual license to certain intellectual property, plus transition services. Other bidders can offer more. NBC News (Reuters), TechCrunch.
What happens to my Character.AI chats in the bankruptcy?
The company says your information remains protected under its Privacy Policy and that its data privacy and security practices are unchanged. A bipartisan group of state attorneys general has asked the court to address privacy and safety protections in any sale, and whether a consumer privacy ombudsman is needed is still open. We did not find a statement about stored chats if the platform is wound down. A copy on your own device removes the uncertainty: request the official export and copy the chats that matter. Company update, California Attorney General.
How do I export my Character.AI chats?
On the web: Profile, Profile Settings, Account, Manage Account & Data, Export Data. In the mobile app: Profile, Settings icon, Legal & Privacy, Export Data. Character.AI says exports can take 3 to 4 weeks, and the download link it emails you is valid for 7 days. See the official help article.
Can I export just one chat?
The official help pages we found describe an account-wide export request and do not document a per-chat export. For a single conversation, scroll to the start so older messages load, then copy the text into a document you keep.
Does the export include my characters?
Character.AI's help page does not list what the file contains. Open the file when it arrives and check. To be safe, copy each character's text fields yourself now: the greeting, the description, the definition and any lorebook entries.
Should I delete my Character.AI account?
Not before you have your copy. Character.AI says account deletion is permanent and cannot be reversed. Request the export, download it, check it, and only then decide. How do I delete my account?
Can I bring my Character.AI characters and chats to NYVELLE?
Yes, in two steps. First paste the character's details (name, tagline, description, greeting, definition) or open a Character Card file, review the draft and create the character. Then choose your saved chat file and Import chat: the most recent part of the conversation, up to 400 messages with up to 40 of the character's replies, becomes that character's chat history, so the story continues where you left off. Import into a character you haven't chatted with yet. Every imported line is checked like a chat message: lines that break the content rules are left out and counted, and a chat that breaks the rules about age and minors isn't imported at all. Character.AI hasn't published the layout of its export, so check the message count NYVELLE shows before you import. Lorebook entries move over by pasting them into the character's lorebook. The character won't behave exactly like the original.
What should I look for in a replacement app?
Look for export of your chats in readable text or JSON, export of characters in an open format such as Character Card V2, memory you can read, edit and delete, plain pricing, and a clear policy for what happens to your data. The checklist in this guide has the full list.
Sources
Checked October 26, 2026. We re-read these while the sale runs and change this page when they change.
- Character.AI, An Update on Character.ai, October 12, 2026 (company blog).
- Character.AI, Initiates Voluntary Chapter 11 Proceeding, October 12, 2026 (press release).
- NBC News (Reuters), Character.AI files for bankruptcy, will sell some assets to Disney for $20 million, October 13, 2026.
- TechCrunch, Just 5 years in, interactive chatbot platform Character.AI files for bankruptcy, October 13, 2026.
- Office of the California Attorney General, Attorney General Bonta Seeks Consumer Protections in Character.AI Bankruptcy, October 15, 2026.
- PPC Land, 32 states say Character.ai sale rules block bids that would beat Disney, October 23, 2026 (objection and proposed court schedule).
- Character.AI Help Center, How do I download my data? (export steps, 3 to 4 weeks, 7-day link).
- Character.AI Help Center, How do I export all my data? How can I export my chats?
- Character.AI Help Center, How do I delete my account? (deletion is permanent).
- Character.AI Help Center, Character Definition and Lorebooks (creator guide).
- Character Card V2 specification (open community spec).
This guide gives general information and is not legal advice about the bankruptcy. For case documents, see the court filings linked from the company’s update.