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Does Twitch Delete Old Streams?

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If you’ve ever been on Twitch, you may have noticed that full videos of past streams and clips can be found on the website. From time to time, Twitch deletes these due to their internal policies and to keep their servers from clogging up.

If you want past broadcasts saved indefinitely, you will need to download them or transfer them to another site (such as YouTube) that will allow you to keep recorded videos beyond 2-9 weeks.

Here’s some more information on why Twitch deletes videos:

Why Does Twitch Delete VoDs?

There are several reasons why Twitch may have deleted your VoDs. Typically, each Twitch stream will remain on the platform for about 14 days, when it will be automatically deleted from your Twitch channel. Partners and Twitch Turbo users will have each stream title stay on their channel for up to 60 days.

Past broadcasts may also be deleted if you play copyrighted material on them. This includes both video and audio.

How Long Do VoDs Stay On Twitch?

By default, VoDs remain on Twitch for 14 days for streamers who are not Twitch partners. During this time, you can download your VoD, highlight it in the video producer or create clips from it. If you have an Amazon Prime account connected to your Twitch account or are a Twitch Partner, then your VoDs remain on Twitch for 60 days. This is due to the storage limitations on the platform.

If you want to keep your VoD for longer than Twitch will host it for, make sure to download it. Here’s how to do so:

  1. Step 1

    twitch creator dashboard video producer

    Find the “Video Producer” under Content.

  2. Step 2

    twitch video selection triple dot

    Press the 3 dots next to the video you want to download.

  3. Step 3

    twitch highlight download

    Click the “Download” button.

    This will start your download. Sometimes Twitch needs time to process these downloads and entire VoDs can have large file sizes so make sure you have enough space going!

Twitch Deleting Videos and Clips Due to DMCA

It is important that while livestreaming, you don’t violate copyright law such as broadcasting music you don’t have the proper licensing for. If a clip, highlight or VoD on your channel breaks DMCA and other copyright laws, it may be deleted by Twitch to ensure that you are complying with the law.

twitch copyrights and your channel

The best way to avoid getting your content deleted by Twitch for these reasons is to use copyright safe/royalty-free music, which we have a video on here:

How to Enable Archiving on Twitch

If you want viewers to be able to watch VoDs of your broadcasts, here’s instructions on how to enable archiving:

  1. Step 1

    twitch creator dashboard stream

    Navigate to Stream Settings.

  2. Step 2

    twitch store past broadcasts

    Ensure that the, “Store past broadcasts” option is enabled.

    twitch enable clips

    In the same settings you can also make sure that clips are on as well as adjust who can create clips while you are live. This can be useful if you don’t want floods of clips that you have to sort through after each stream.

Conclusion

We hope this article has helped you understand why Twitch deletes videos, how to store your past broadcasts on Twitch, and how to download them to your PC for personal use. If you have questions about Twitch deleting content, feel free to hop into our Discord full of fellow streamers willing to help!

While your live streams will be saved for 60 days (or 14 depending on your status) before being deleted, your Twitch highlight clips will last on the platform until you delete them. (That being said, Twitch may delete them if they break DMCA rules).

About the Author

Emrys

Emrys is a games development student and Twitch streamer from the UK. In his streams, he shares his love for video games and their craft. Outside of streaming, he loves gaming with his partner.

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