Twitch VODs Expire: How to Save and Reuse Your Broadcasts
Twitch deletes past broadcasts after a set number of days, and highlights and uploads now share a storage cap. Here's how long VODs commonly last, how to download and back up your own streams, how to organize a library, and how to reuse old broadcasts.
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Twitch past broadcasts expire. At the time of writing, most channels keep them for 7 days, Affiliates for 14 days, and Partners and Turbo or Prime subscribers for 60 days, after which they're deleted. Highlights and uploads don't expire on a timer, but since 2025 they share a 100-hour storage cap per channel.
If you don't save a broadcast before its window closes, it's gone. Here's what lasts, how to keep your own copies, how to organize them, and how old streams can keep working for your channel.
Key takeaways
- Past broadcasts are commonly kept for 7, 14 or 60 days depending on account type.
- Highlights and uploads don't expire, but they count toward a 100-hour cap.
- Recording locally while you stream is the most reliable backup.
- A labeled, organized library turns old streams into reruns, uploads and clips.
What Twitch keeps, for how long, and what counts
Twitch treats its on-demand content in three groups. Check its help article on on-demand content for current details, because retention rules have changed before.
- Past broadcasts are automatic recordings of your streams, created only if storing past broadcasts is turned on in your stream settings. They're deleted after the retention window: commonly 7 days, 14 for Affiliates and 60 for Partners and Turbo or Prime users.
- Highlights and uploads are videos you save from a broadcast or upload yourself. They don't expire, but since April 2025 they count toward a 100-hour limit per channel. Twitch said at the time that channels over the limit risked automatic deletion, starting with the least-viewed highlights.
- Clips are short moments viewers or you create. They sit outside the 100-hour cap.
One more wrinkle: sections of a VOD can be muted when Twitch detects copyrighted audio, and those silent stretches stay in any copy you download.
How to save your broadcasts before they disappear
Use two layers, so a missed deadline never costs you a stream.
- Record locally while you stream. OBS can record and stream at the same time. Recording to MKV protects the file if OBS or your PC crashes, and OBS can remux MKV to MP4 afterward. If your encoder has headroom, record at the same or higher quality than you stream.
- Download from Twitch as a backup. Twitch's Video Producer has offered a download option for your own past broadcasts. Download within the retention window, ideally the same week.
- Keep a separate music-free audio track if you play music you don't have rights to re-air. OBS supports multiple audio tracks, which makes a clean VOD version possible.
- Back up twice: an external drive plus a cloud storage account.
Only download and reuse broadcasts that are yours. Other creators' streams belong to them, even if a tool can grab them.
Organizing a VOD library you can actually reuse
Hundreds of files named by date are almost as lost as deleted ones. A little structure makes reuse fast:
- Consistent file names such as
2026-09-03_game-name_ranked-climb.mp4, so sorting by name also sorts by date. - Folders by type: full broadcasts, highlight cuts, intros and outros, and material cleared for reruns.
- A simple spreadsheet with duration, game, best moments with timestamps, and a column for music or third-party content that needs checking.
- A rights note on anything with licensed music, sponsor segments or guests who agreed to a live appearance but not to re-airing.
- Trimmed versions without starting-soon screens and long breaks, which work better anywhere you reuse them.
Keep source settings consistent where you can. A library that shares one resolution and frame rate is easier to combine into long-form reruns later.
Ways to reuse old broadcasts on Twitch and beyond
Saved streams can keep working long after the live moment:
- Overnight or off-day reruns on Twitch. Label them clearly as reruns. Our guide to streaming your best VODs while you sleep covers the setup.
- YouTube uploads and live loops. Full playthroughs and edited highlights become searchable videos, and a loop of your best sessions can keep a YouTube channel live around the clock.
- Short-form clips for social platforms, each pointing back to your live schedule.
- Themed compilations, such as a best-of-the-month or a complete run of one game.
Check each platform's rules before re-airing. Kick's help center lists pre-recorded content as grounds to refuse or revoke verification and Partner Program status, so reruns don't suit a Kick channel you want to monetize. For gaming loops specifically, see running a gaming VOD re-broadcast channel.
Putting your saved Twitch VODs back on air with StreamHouse
Once your VODs are safe on a drive, StreamHouse gives them a second life without a PC left running. Upload them to the media library, where they're prepared to one consistent encode profile so broadcasts recorded months apart play at a steady bitrate. Build a playlist of your strongest sessions, add Twitch or YouTube as destinations, and press Start. The playlist loops in the cloud for 24/7 streaming.
As new broadcasts come in, add the best ones while the stream is live and retire older sessions; changes apply on the next video. Use the scheduler to start a rerun block when your live show ends.
Running a long loop on YouTube? YouTube doesn't reliably archive broadcasts longer than about 12 hours, so StreamHouse's recording protection, for a connected YouTube channel on plans with 24/7 streaming, can close the broadcast at a point you choose and carry the stream into a new one without restarting the playlist. Get started from the getting-started guide.
Frequently asked questions
How long do Twitch VODs last?
At the time of writing, past broadcasts are commonly kept for 7 days on most channels, 14 days for Affiliates, and 60 days for Partners and Turbo or Prime users. Highlights and uploads don't expire but count toward a 100-hour cap.
Can I recover a Twitch VOD after it expires?
Generally no. Once a past broadcast passes its retention window it's deleted, and Twitch doesn't offer a way to restore it for creators. That's why recording locally in OBS while you stream, and downloading important broadcasts early, matters more than any setting on Twitch.
Do Twitch highlights ever get deleted?
Highlights don't expire on a timer, but since April 2025 highlights and uploads share a 100-hour limit per channel. When the change launched, Twitch said channels over the limit risked automatic deletion starting with the least-viewed highlights, so review your storage regularly.
Can I upload my old Twitch streams to YouTube?
Yes, if the content is yours and you have rights to everything in it. Watch for music you didn't license and sponsor segments with platform-specific terms. Trim long intros and breaks, and split marathon sessions into episodes.
