Facebook has announced a change to its live video storage policy that will see your prized footage disappear from the social media platform after only a month.
Starting today, all new live videos hosted on Facebook will get a 30-day lifespan, after which they will be automatically removed. That’s a major update to the current situation whereby videos have been stored by Meta indefinitely.
But anybody worried that evidence of their great sporting glories or grand product unboxings will be lost forever needn’t panic – we’ll explain what you need to do to save down your Facebook videos.
Facebook’s New Policy
Announced on Meta’s Newsroom blog, its says that “new live broadcasts can be replayed, downloaded or shared from Facebook Pages or profiles for 30 days, after which they will be automatically removed from Facebook”.
In addition to the creation of new broadcasts, existing videos currently stored on the platform will also be affected.
This just in! View
the top business tech deals for 2025 👨💻
‘Archival videos’ that are older than 30 days will also be removed in due course, with the video owner being notified ahead of deletion. They will receive an email and Facebook notification to say that they have 90 days to “download or transfer you content”.
“The deletion process will take place in waves over the coming months, and we are providing new tools for people to download their old live videos before they are gradually deleted.” – Meta
How to Rescue Your Facebook Videos
Meta says that it is giving users the 90 days notice to allow them time to download to a device, transfer to cloud storage, or convert to a new reel. There will also be the option to postpone the deletion for a further six months.
Below are Meta’s instructions for carrying out each of those solutions:
How to Download a Facebook Live Video
- Go to Profile Settings within the Facebook app.
- Choose Activity Log and then Live Videos. There you’ll find a list of your videos.
- Tap on the three dots next to your chosen video and tap Download.
How to Bulk Download Facebook Live Videos
- Go to your notifications within the Facebook app.
- Tap the notification alerting you to Facebook’s new live video policy.
- Tap Download Live videos.
- Select your desired options and tap Submit request.
How to Transfer Facebook Live Videos
- Go to your notifications within the Facebook app.
- Tap the notification alerting you to Facebook’s new live video policy.
- Tap Transfer Live videos.
- Tap Where: Select a destination.
- Choose your linked cloud storage provider (e.g. Dropbox, Google Drive) and tap Save.
Convert Facebook Live Videos to Reels
- From the full-screen video of your published live video, tap Video clipping.
- Clip your video by using the blue timeline bar or trimmer handles to set when it will start and end (15 seconds min; 90 seconds max).
- Tap Next.
- Write a description and choose an audience for your reel.
- Toggle on or off to Enable remixing.
- Tap Share reel.
How to Postpone the Deletion of Facebook Live Videos
- Go to your notifications within the Facebook app.
- Tap the notification alerting you to Facebook’s new live video policy.
- Tap the Learn more text and then postpone the deletion text.
- Tap Postpone
Industry Standards
The Meta post says that it is updating its rules “because most live video views occur within the first few weeks of broadcasting”.
It also says that: “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.”
Meta has recently faced criticism for its decision to shelve fact-checkers. And it was fined the equivalent of more than $15 million in South Korea towards the end of last year for collecting data on gay and transgender Facebook users.
