How long do Twitch VODs last? 7, 14 or 60 days, and the 7-day catch for 2K
Twitch keeps past broadcasts for 7, 14 or 60 days, but 2K and vertical copies go after 7. The exact rules from Twitch's help page, plus what we measured.
In short
Twitch keeps past broadcasts for 60 days for Partners, Prime and Turbo users, 14 days for Affiliates, and 7 days for everyone else. Streams in 2K or vertical format lose that higher-quality copy after 7 days, whatever the account. Highlights and uploads do not expire, but they share a 100-hour storage limit.
A Twitch stream ends, and its recording starts a countdown. How long the countdown runs depends on who you are on Twitch, and, since 2K and vertical streaming arrived, on the format of the stream too. This guide gives the exact numbers from Twitch's own help page, read on 4 October 2026, shows what we saw on two real channels that day, and points out where popular guides get it wrong.
How long Twitch keeps each kind of video
Twitch keeps a past broadcast (a VOD) for 60, 14 or 7 days, depending on the account. Its help page says it in three sentences: "Twitch Partners, Prime and Twitch Turbo users will have past broadcasts saved for 60 days before being deleted. Twitch Affiliates have their past broadcasts saved for 14 days. All other broadcasters will have their past broadcasts saved for 7 days before they are deleted."
The same page has a table for every kind of video. Here it is in short:
| What | Partners, Prime and Turbo users | Affiliates | Everyone else |
|---|---|---|---|
| Past broadcasts (VODs) | 60 days | 14 days | 7 days |
| 2K or vertical copy of a VOD | 7 days, then the 1080p or horizontal copy for the rest of the 60 days | 7 days, then the 1080p or horizontal copy for the rest of the 14 days | Both copies expire at 7 days |
| Highlights and Uploads | No time limit, 100 hours in total | No time limit, 100 hours in total | No time limit, 100 hours in total |
Only Affiliates and Partners can upload videos at all. Two more details matter. First, the countdown is about storage on Twitch, not about who watches: a 60-day VOD can still be unpublished or deleted earlier by the streamer. Second, Twitch writes that "most" Partners, Prime and Turbo users get 60 days, so a few accounts clearly have other terms (see what we measured below).
2K and vertical copies expire after 7 days
The highest-quality copy of a 2K or vertical stream lasts only 7 days, on every kind of account. Twitch's wording for 2K: "the 2K quality version of your VOD will expire 7 days after your stream, after which the 1080p quality version will be available for the remainder of your existing retention period." The rule for Dual Format and vertical streams is the same: the vertical version goes after 7 days, and the horizontal version stays.
So a Partner who streams in 2K does not have 60 days of 2K. They have 7 days of 2K, then 53 more days of 1080p. An Affiliate gets 7 days of 2K and 7 more of 1080p. For a streamer with neither status, both copies are gone at day 7.
This is the rule most often missed. If you stream in 2K or vertical and want to keep the sharpest copy, or the vertical cut for TikTok, Reels or Shorts, save it in the first week.
Highlights do not expire, but there is a 100-hour cap
Highlights and Uploads are kept with no time limit, but they share one storage limit of 100 hours. Twitch: "There is a 100-hour storage limit across all Highlights and Uploads, including unpublished Highlights and uploads."
Three things follow from Twitch's help page:
- Unpublishing does not free space. "Both Published and Unpublished Highlights and Uploads count towards your storage limit." You must delete to make room.
- You can be blocked from making new Highlights. "You may not be able to create new Highlights if you are at or close to the 100-hour storage limit."
- The old trick of saving a whole stream as a Highlight now costs you. "If you were previously storing full VODs as Highlights, please note that these are stored as Highlights and will count towards your limit." Two 50-hour marathons would fill the whole allowance.
Past broadcasts themselves do not count towards the 100 hours. Twitch: "Only content classified as Highlights or Uploads count towards your storage limit." In the same table, Clips get neither an expiry date nor a cap: Twitch marks them "N/A".
What we saw on two real channels
On 4 October 2026 we listed the past broadcasts of two large channels with yt-dlp, asking Twitch only for the type "ARCHIVE" (past broadcasts, not Highlights or Uploads). This ran from our test computer; the script is in our tooling as measure_twitch_vods.py.
| Channel | Past broadcasts listed | Newest | Oldest | Age of the oldest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| summit1g | 62 | 3 October 2026 (11.2 hours) | 4 August 2026 (10.5 hours) | 61 days |
| shroud | 1,582 | 3 October 2026 (12.0 hours) | 9 November 2020 (14.2 hours) | 2,155 days |
summit1g's list ends right at the 60-day mark, which is what the Partner, Prime and Turbo rule predicts. shroud's list reaches back almost six years. That fits Twitch's own word "most": some accounts have longer storage, and Twitch does not publish which ones. For your own channel, trust the rule for your account type, not what you see on a famous channel.
We also noted the qualities offered. Both newest VODs came in five sizes from 160p to 1080p. Neither channel streamed in 2K, so neither showed a 2K copy to expire.
Where other guides go wrong
The numbers above come from Twitch. Several guides in today's search results give different ones:
| What some guides say | What Twitch says |
|---|---|
| "Twitch Affiliate: 60 days" (a guide updated in July 2026) | Affiliates get 14 days |
| Only 7 and 60 days mentioned, as in Twitch's own summary line | 7, 14 or 60, depending on the account |
| Highlights "remain on their channel forever" | No time limit, but a 100-hour cap shared with Uploads |
| (nothing about 2K or vertical) | Those copies expire after 7 days on every account |
The "7 or 60" mix-up is easy to understand: Twitch's own help page says it too. Right after listing 60, 14 and 7 days, it advises: "If you want to save your past broadcasts beyond the 7 or 60 day limits, download or export them before the 7 or 60 day window." The 14 days for Affiliates is easy to miss when it is left out of the summary line.
If a broadcast was never saved
If a stream was not saved, nothing can bring it back. A VOD only exists when Store Past Broadcasts was on before you went live. Twitch: "Twitch Support cannot recover a broadcast that was not saved."
The common traps, all from the same help page:
- The switch is web-only. "The Store Past Broadcasts setting can only be enabled through the Creator Dashboard on web. This setting is not available in the Twitch mobile app." If you stream from your phone, turn it on in a browser first.
- An unstable stream may not save even with the switch on. Twitch suggests its Twitch Inspector tool to check your setup.
- Expired means deleted. Once a VOD passes its retention period, it "no longer exists on Twitch's servers".
How to keep a past broadcast before it expires
The safe way to keep your own past broadcast is Twitch's own Download button. In the Video Producer, open the three-dot menu next to a video and choose Download. Twitch notes that a long video can take a while to start. You can also connect a YouTube account and use Export to send a VOD to YouTube without downloading it. Twitch itself does not offer bulk downloads of your videos.
For a public past broadcast on someone else's channel, a downloader can save a copy. Raptor reads twitch.tv/videos/<number> links. Our server takes videos up to 3 hours long, so a 10-hour stream is refused with a clear message instead of failing halfway. Subscriber-only VODs need a login, and we never use one. What you save is still the streamer's work: keep it for yourself, and ask before you reuse it.
Two last things to know:
- Muted parts stay muted. If Twitch muted music in a VOD, every download of it is muted too.
- Clips are the long-lasting format. Twitch's storage table gives Clips no expiry and no cap, so clipping a moment is the usual way to keep it after the VOD is gone.
Questions people ask
How long do Twitch VODs last for Affiliates?
14 days. Twitch's help page says: "Twitch Affiliates have their past broadcasts saved for 14 days." Twitch's Partner page says the same: Partners get 60 days, "vs only 14 days for Affiliates".
Do Twitch Prime or Turbo users get longer VOD storage?
Yes. Twitch lists Partners, Prime and Twitch Turbo users together at 60 days. A streamer without any of these, and who is not an Affiliate, gets 7 days.
Why did my 2K VOD turn into 1080p?
Because Twitch deletes the 2K copy 7 days after the stream. The 1080p copy stays for the rest of your normal storage period: 60 days for Partners, Prime and Turbo, 14 for Affiliates. The same happens to the vertical copy of a Dual Format stream.
Do Twitch highlights expire?
No, Twitch stores Highlights and Uploads with no time limit. But all of them together, published or not, must fit in 100 hours. Near that limit you may not be able to make new Highlights until you delete some.
Can Twitch Support recover a deleted VOD?
No. Twitch says a broadcast that was not saved, or that "has passed its retention period", no longer exists on its servers and "cannot be recovered by Twitch Support".
Why was my stream not saved at all?
Usually because Store Past Broadcasts was off when you went live. That switch is only in the Creator Dashboard on the web, not in the Twitch mobile app, so phone streamers must turn it on in a browser first.
Can I download a Twitch VOD that someone else streamed?
If the past broadcast is public, a downloader can save it; on Raptor that works for past broadcasts up to 3 hours long. Subscriber-only videos need a login, and we do not fetch them. The video stays the streamer's work, so keep it for yourself and ask before reusing it.
Will a downloaded VOD have the muted music back?
No. Twitch says that if a video "has been muted due to the Audio Recognition system, downloading it will not provide an unmuted version". The silent parts stay silent in every copy.
Sources
First published . Written and checked by the Raptor Downloader team. Download only videos you own or have permission to use. Terms · Copyright and takedowns