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Imgur is a great website for hosting images, but are they keeping those images forever?

If not, for how long?

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5 Answers 5

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Stated by Imgur under Imgur help → Support → Images

How long do you keep the images?

Forever! An image is only removed if deletion is requested.

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    They also offer one time deletion links when you upload an image not tied to an account. You can find it on the right hand side with the BB and HTML formatted links
    – Kade
    Commented Apr 14, 2015 at 18:41
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    dead link. I have spent several minutes trying to find the answer to this question, and there seems to be no reference anywhere anymore. I would sincerely appreciate an updated answer. thanks!
    – Jeff Puckett
    Commented Aug 1, 2016 at 21:23
  • No longer true as of 2023.
    – galacticninja
    Commented Aug 7 at 7:04
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Imgur used to delete uploaded images that haven't got any views in six months.
Since February 2015, when the Imgur Pro service was discontinued, Imgur claims to preserve all images.

UPDATE: Imgur turned their policy around in 2023 — see this answer for more up-to-date information.

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    Free image store forever? So how does the economics work then? How can this be real?
    – Pacerier
    Commented Jul 10, 2017 at 21:16
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    @Pacerier They redirect bare image URLs to a page with ads whenever they can, and encourage people to download their mobile app, which also shows ads. Imgur was created as a "user experience first" image host, apparently the founder realized at some point that that statement is an economic impossibility.
    – Maximillian Laumeister
    Commented Nov 16, 2018 at 0:53
  • @MaximillianLaumeister They all start out so naive and innocent, but the world is not all sunshine and rainbows, and it beats them down relentlessly until they cross over to the dark side. It's quite sad, really.
    – NoName
    Commented Sep 14, 2021 at 11:05
  • @NoName It was an unusual sunset. Having sat behind opaque drapery all day, I had not realized that a storm was pushing in and that much of the sky was the precise shade of old suits of armor one finds in museums.
    – Frank Schwieterman
    Commented Nov 1, 2022 at 4:54
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    No longer true as of 2023.
    – galacticninja
    Commented Aug 7 at 7:06
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On April 19, 2023, Imgur announced a policy change. Along with NSFW images being deleted, they will also start deleting images not tied to a user account on May 15, 2023.

So the answer is: Forever, but only if you uploaded it with a user account. Otherwise, it will eventually be deleted.

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Imgur is a great website for hosting images, but are they keeping those images forever?

One cannot expect Imgur to keep images forever, even if their policy may claim so (I don't know if it still does).

ImageShack used to claim that they'll keep images forever, e.g. see this quote from their CEO:

We have about 350 servers. About 2 petabytes worth of disk space. Combined hit rate to our sites is about 250,000 queries concurrent. There about 25 billion files stored on ImageShack. Images expire after a year of inactivity, unless they are in your account, in which case they never expire.

Then one day, ImageShack decided to change their storage policy, and billions of images got removed (or replaced with ads).

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Inactive Imgur content not tied to an active user account will be deleted after an unspecified period

Imgur recently updated its policies regarding content retention. On May 15, 2023, they made changes to their terms of service that affect how long they store uploaded content.

The current policy states that Imgur will delete old, unused, and inactive content that isn't associated with an active account. They'll also remove nudity, pornography, and sexually explicit content from their servers. However, they haven't specified an exact timeframe for when this deletion occurs.

According to their Help Center, Imgur aims to make the removal of inactive content "imperceivable" to users. They plan to use a combination of factors, including total views and recent views, to determine which content is considered inactive.

It's worth noting that Imgur also has an Inactive Account policy. They encourage users to log in at least once a year to keep their accounts active. Accounts that remain inactive for extended periods may be permanently removed. Imgur determines inactivity based on a combination of factors, including uploading, logging in, public sharing, and the date an account was created.

While Imgur doesn't keep images forever, you can extend the retention period for your uploads by maintaining an active account and ensuring your content receives views. If you're concerned about long-term storage, it's a good idea to back up your important images elsewhere, just to be safe.

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  • A current answer. You've (hyper)linked the first link thrice, if you haven't noted.
    – user598527
    Commented Sep 22 at 15:10

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