Twitch has a reasonably draconian policy when it comes to storing VODs on its website. The range runs anywhere from two weeks for the average streaming Joe, to a maximum of around three months for the Twitch-heavy hitters (read partners, Turbo and Prime users) like Shroud and Sodapoppin.
From this cut-off point onward, all VODs cease to exist and are deleted from Twitch’s saturated servers forever, confined to the colorful history of live streaming.
The limits are short, especially if we consider the average length of streams is anywhere between two to eight hours, leaving very little time for viewers to catch up with their favorite stream.
With this in mind, there’s a growing trend among streamers and viewers alike of downloading and saving VODs to watch later on, edit them into stream highlight videos destined for YouTube, or just keep them for posterity’s sake.
With no inbuilt feature for viewers (the story is different for channel owners) to download Twitch VODs, here’s how to go about doing so.
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Steps To Download Your Own Twitch VODs
To begin, we have to make sure Twitch is configured to store VODs. To do so, follow these steps:
- Visit the Twitch website and log in to your account.
- Click on your profile name in the top right corner to access a drop-down menu and select ‘’Dashboard’’ represented by a mini chart.
- Once on the Dashboard, select ”Channel” under the ”Settings” section among the options running down the left-hand side on the screen.
- Toggle the ”Store past broadcasts” option to ”on”. You’ll know this has been done correctly when a white check mark on a green background appears. From now on, all broadcasts will be saved to Twitch.
To download a VOD, do the following:
- Visit the Twitch website and log in to your account.
- Click on your profile name in the top right corner to access a drop-down menu and select ‘’Video Producer’’ represented by a mini chart.
- From the drop-down menu entitled ”All Videos”, select ”Past Broadcast”. Twitch now lists all your past streams.
- Locate the one you want to download.
- Under the VOD, find the ‘’Download’’ button.
- Click on it and assign a save location on your PC to begin downloading the VOD.
Downloading VODs That Aren’t Your Own
As mentioned, it is impossible to download someone else’s VOD directly through the Twitch website.
Fortunately, there’s a third-party application appositely called Twitch Leecher that allows you to do just that.
Other programs exist, but Twitch Leecher is entirely free, safe, well designed, and has an established reputation as the go-to solution for downloading VODs.
Additionally, Twitch Leecher is updated every few months to keep up with fundamental changes made to the Twitch platform.
- Visit the following link to download the latest version of Twitch Leecher.
- Install Twitch Leecher by clicking on the downloaded executable file and follow the installation wizard to complete.
- Open up Twitch Leecher from either the Start menu or desktop icon.
- Once open, click on the ”Search” button from the options that run along the top right-hand of the window.
- Click on the ”URLs” tab in the options that appear and copy/paste the URL of the VOD you wish to download. The URL can be obtained by visiting Twitch and clicking on the VOD in question then copying the URL from the address bar or right-clicking then choosing ‘’Copy Link location’’ (format – https://www.twitch.tv/videos/XXXXXXXXX – X being a random assortment of numbers).
- Click on ”Search” at the bottom of the Twitch Leecher window. The program will track down the VOD and display its associated thumbnail.
- Click on the ”Download” button under the VOD or the ‘’Download’’ icon (downward arrow) to the right of the VOD depending on the version of Leecher.
- Twitch Leecher then gives you a few video quality options to choose from alongside defining the download location on your PC, the filename, and start/end points.
- When ready, click the ”Download” button below.
- Twitch Leecher will now download the VOD to your PC. Download time depends on your internet connection, but should be relatively quick for shorter streams.
- To locate and watch it, navigate to the previously defined file location.
