Facebook announced on Tuesday that live videos will now be stored on the platform for only 30 days before being automatically deleted.
Previously, these videos were available indefinitely. The new policy takes effect on Wednesday.
As part of this change, all live videos older than 30 days will be removed. Users will receive notifications before deletion and have 90 days to take action. They can choose to download their videos, transfer them to cloud storage, or convert them into Reels.
“These changes will align our storage policies with industry standards and help ensure we are providing the most up-to-date live video experiences for everyone on Facebook,” the company stated in a blog post.
Live video storage policies vary among competitors. Twitch retains past broadcasts for 60 days for Partners, Affiliates, and Prime streamers, while regular streamers have a 14-day limit. YouTube archives live broadcasts indefinitely unless users disable archiving.
Facebook is offering users an option to defer deletion for six months if they need more time to save their videos. After that period, any remaining old live videos will be permanently removed.
To assist users, Facebook is launching new tools for bulk downloads. Users can either select the “Download live videos” option in their notifications or choose “Transfer live videos” to move them to linked cloud storage services such as Dropbox or Google Drive.
Additionally, Facebook is encouraging users to convert key moments from their live videos into Reels to keep them accessible on their pages.
