Can you watch deleted Twitch VODs?

A VOD, or video on demand, is an archive of previously livestreamed content on Twitch. Streamers have full control over the accessibility of their VODs and are given the options to save or immediately delete VODs, make them free, put them behind a subscription pay wall, or terminate VODs after the fact.

On the livestreaming platform itself, VODs are saved for different lengths for different users. Twitch partners have 60-day storage for all past broadcasts, affiliates have 14-day storage, and other live streamers have only seven-day storage. After the designated amount of time has passed, the oldest VODs will automatically be deleted.

While VODs have a finite lifespan on Twitch, these are the methods in which you can save your past broadcasts.

How to save Twitch VODs

Once a VOD is deleted, it is gone for good and cannot be recovered by either the user or Twitch itself. This is the case for either VODs that have expired past the save date or VODs that have been manually deleted by the streamer.

For content creators who want to save their past livestreams for any further purposes, it is extremely important to download the stream to your own device. This will give the streamer their own recording of the broadcast that will survive for as long as it is kept on the given device.

If you want to save a special broadcast on your actual channel, you can save the stream as a highlight. As opposed to past broadcast, highlights are saved indefinitely for all Twitch users across the board. Currently, streamers can have an indefinite number of highlights, which makes this an excellent method for creators who want to save all of their broadcasts or special moments.

For viewers who may want to view a past VOD of a streamer, many popular creators will upload entire or edited broadcasts on other video hosting platforms such as YouTube. Aside from these methods, there is no way to view a broadcast that has been deleted if it has not been saved.