Text and media use different clocks
Random-chat text remains for up to 24 hours from sending. Friend text remains for up to 90 days. Pictures and voice recordings last only 24 hours from sending in either kind of chat.
For example, a picture sent to a friend on Monday at 15:00 is due to expire on Tuesday at 15:00. The surrounding text may still be present for the rest of its 90-day retention period. An unavailable media item next to readable text is therefore not, by itself, evidence of a connection problem. Cleanup runs about every 30 seconds rather than at an exact second.
Leaving, losing connection and changing devices
A temporary disconnection can return you to a conversation that has not ended. Choosing to end a random conversation is a different action and does not reserve that partner for a later session.
Changing devices with the recovery code returns you to the same account, not to an earlier snapshot of its data. A friend may be offline and read a message later, but only while the content remains available. For important arrangements, agree on the information while both people can still access it.
Time Square: display time versus retention
A normal post can initially display for 5 minutes to 24 hours. A new comment extends a nearly expired post to at least five more minutes; a longer existing display time is preserved. Likes do not extend it.
Leaving public display is different from clearing retained records. A normal post and its comments are retained for up to 24 hours from publication or the latest new comment. Administrators can publish long-term posts, which remain until deleted or removed. A notification is not a copy of the original text and cannot reopen expired content.
Reporting and backups do not restore expired files
Reports can retain separate text evidence after the original content is gone. Reporting an image or voice message does not extend the original file’s 24-hour lifetime, so prompt reporting matters.
Original image and voice files are excluded from business and database backups. A restore can bring back a message entry without its original media. It cannot make an expired file playable again. Other participants may have saved copies, and the service cannot delete or retrieve those copies on your behalf.