Your Facebook Lives Will Be Deleted in 30 Days: Here’s How To Download Them

In an announcement on February 18th, Facebook explained that:

“Any new live broadcast videos can be replayed, downloaded or shared from your Facebook Pages or profiles for 30 days, after which they will automatically be removed from Facebook.”

Facebook’s reasoning behind this change is that interactions with archived live videos tend to stop within the first few weeks post-broadcast. It says the storage policy change will help it provide “the most up-to-date live video experiences for everyone on Facebook.”

Any Facebook Live videos made before this announcement, and over 30 days old, will start to be deleted in waves. Once you receive a notification that your lives will be removed, you’ll have a notice period of 90 days to save or convert them.

Facebook has released a number of tools to help you keep your Live videos safe, whether you have two or 200. Here are your options:

How To Download Individual Live Videos

If you only want to save a small number of videos, you can download them individually on either your mobile device or desktop. From a mobile device, follow these steps:

1. Head to your profile page and select the three dots next to the blue “Message” button to enter your profile settings.
2. About midway down the page, select “Activity log.”
3. Tap “Live videos” from the filter options to view all of your past streams.
4. Find the Facebook live video you want to download, hit the three dots, and select “Download.”

How To Bulk Download Live Videos

If you have multiple Facebook live videos to download, you’ll save a lot of time by downloading them in bulk. Again, here’s the steps for saving them on a cell phone, but it can also be done on your desktop.

1. Go to the “Notifications” tab at the bottom of your screen and tap the notification announcing the policy change.
2. On the next page, select “Download live videos.”
3. Choose the date range for the videos you want to download and hit “Submit request.”
4. Pick the download location (mobile or desktop) and tap “Create file.” 

How To Transfer Videos

You can also transfer your videos to an online storage location. This is a great option if you regularly stream, since you can set up a recurring automatic transfer.

1. Follow the same first step as with a bulk download.
2. On the next page, select “Transfer live videos.”
3. Select “Where” to pick your storage location.
4. Underneath “Where,” select “How often” to set up an automatic transfer daily, monthly, or yearly.
5. Tap “Next” and then “Save” to start the transfer.

While Facebook has made it clear that removing old live videos won’t win you many views, it’s a good idea to keep them safe for a few reasons.

Firstly, you can use them to create Facebook Reels and Instagram Reels. You can create multiple Reels from just one live, which is an efficient way to bulk out your content calendar on Instagram and Facebook without having to generate new content ideas. And if you want to make money on social media, this can expand your profits!

On top of that, you can use them to inspire new content ideas on other social media platforms, and analyze performance to improve your future content.

It’s a good idea to make a habit of downloading your social media content beyond Facebook. With the TikTok ban postponed, we’ve got you covered if you want to save your TikTok videos too.