How long does Discord retain message content and backups post-deletion?
Executive summary
Discord says deleted messages are removed from its systems but some content — including public posts used for safety training — can be retained from 180 days to two years, and Discord warns backups may take up to 45 days to purge identifying information [1]. The company’s Privacy Policy frames retention as “until we determine it is no longer needed” and points to a separate data retention policy for specifics; community threads and third‑party guides show users still lack a server‑level retention control and rely on bots or manual deletion [2] [1] [3] [4].
1. How Discord frames deletion and retention — company positions
Discord’s public documentation states users can edit or delete messages and that deleted content “will also be deleted from Discord’s systems,” but it qualifies that some public posts may be kept for 180 days to two years for internal uses such as training models that detect policy violations [1]. The Privacy Policy further explains Discord retains personal information “until we determine it is no longer needed for the processing purposes for which we collected or retain it or for legal compliance,” and points readers to a separate data retention policy for granular periods [2] [5].
2. Backups and the 45‑day window — what Discord admits
Discord’s retention explainer says that while most deletions happen quickly, it can take up to 45 days to delete identifying information from backups. That language implies content may persist in backups for a finite but non‑zero period after a user initiates deletion [1]. The company also warns business or legal obligations can extend retention beyond typical deletion schedules [1].
3. Public posts and model training — longer holds
Discord explicitly states some public posts could be retained for between 180 days and two years for internal uses such as training automated systems [1]. That is an important exception: deletion in the app or from a user account does not automatically remove material from all internal datasets if those datasets are covered by the stated retention window [1].
4. What Discord does not publicly specify — the gaps
Discord’s published pages repeatedly point to a “data retention policy” and use open language (“until we determine it is no longer needed”), but specific, exhaustive timelines for all content types are not laid out in the sources provided. The materials do not offer a full matrix showing, for example, exact retention for DMs, attachments, logs kept for abuse investigations, or region‑specific deviations — available sources do not mention those granularities [2] [1].
5. The user and admin toolbox — bots and workarounds
Because Discord historically lacks a built‑in server‑level retention control, communities have built and used bots to enforce per‑channel retention windows (delete messages older than X) and developers publish retention bots to automate periodic deletions; GitHub projects and community suggestions show this is the prevailing workaround [6] [4]. Discord community threads also discuss the backend performance constraints that affect mass deletion and bulk‑delete API limits for messages older than two weeks [7] [4].
6. Pushback, compliance claims, and community concern
Community reports and discussions reflect friction between users seeking GDPR‑style deletion guarantees and Discord’s stated practices. Some third‑party writeups and GitHub discussions argue Discord’s lack of bulk‑delete tools complicates compliance and user control; individual developers have engaged Discord’s privacy team over these issues [8] [6]. Independent guides sometimes cite longer retention claims (for example, a claim of a five‑year hold), but that assertion appears in a third‑party article and is not corroborated by Discord’s own pages in the provided sources — available sources do not mention a general five‑year retention policy enacted by Discord [9] [1].
7. Practical takeaway for users and server owners
If you need firm, short retention guarantees, don’t rely solely on Discord’s deletion UI: plan to run a retention bot or delete content proactively, and be aware Discord may hold identifying data in backups for up to 45 days and can retain public posts 180 days–two years for internal uses [1] [4]. For legal or compliance questions, Discord directs users to its data retention policy and local‑laws page; these are the company’s cited authorities for special cases and obligations [2] [5].
Limitations: This article uses only the documents and community posts provided. The materials point to a separate data retention policy for more detail; those underlying pages were not included in the search results, so specific retention timelines for every content type are not documented here [2] [1].