Why Is Frigate Recording Retention Deleting Clips Too Early?
- Storage full forcing early cleanup
- Recording retention (retain.days) set low
- Recording mode retaining less (motion vs all)
Problem Description
Frigate is deleting recording clips sooner than the configured retention period — recordings from a few days ago are already gone even though retention is set to 14 or 30 days. Storage pressure forces early deletion when disk usage hits the limit, and event retention must be configured separately from continuous recording retention to preserve important clips.
Why This Happens in Real Homes
Frigate deleting recording clips sooner than configured is the classic storage-versus-retention math problem: retention is only honored while there's room, and Frigate force-cleans the oldest recordings when the disk approaches full. So if your cameras generate more footage than the drive can hold for the retention period, older clips are removed early no matter what you set.
Confirm the recording retention (record retain.days) is set as intended and matches the recording mode — continuous "all" uses far more space than motion-only. Then right-size storage to the workload: free space or add capacity, lower bitrate or reduce continuous recording where acceptable, and keep headroom below the cleanup threshold. Matching storage capacity to your bitrate, camera count, and desired retention is what makes the retention hold.
Symptoms
- Recordings deleted too early
- Recording clips expire early
- Retention not honored for recordings
- Footage gone before the period
- Continuous recordings deleted early
- Retention shorter than set
- Recordings not kept long enough
- Early recording deletion
Recognize these? Here's what usually causes it.
Common Causes
- Storage full forcing early cleanup
- Recording retention (retain.days) set low
- Recording mode retaining less (motion vs all)
- High bitrate/continuous filling storage
- Separate retention for events vs recordings
- Disk cleanup threshold reached
- Config retain misconfigured
- Many cameras at high quality
Most fixes happen in the first 3 steps.
Do not rely on defaults when camera-level overrides are active.
Tools & Requirements
Step-by-Step Solution
Distinguish recording retention from event retention
Frigate has two separate retention systems: continuous recording retention (record: retain: default: N) and event clip retention (record: events: retain: default: N). If your event clips are disappearing but continuous recordings are not: you need to increase the events retention separately. Set: record: events: retain: default: 30 to keep event clips for 30 days. Set: record: retain: default: 7 for continuous recording. Events are the clips you typically care about — they contain the detected object segments.
Check available storage space
Retention settings are a maximum, not a guarantee. When storage fills up: Frigate's cleanup process deletes the oldest recordings first, even if they haven't reached the retention limit. Check storage: in the Frigate UI go to System > Storage. The storage bar shows usage per camera. If total usage is near 100%: clips are being deleted early to make room. Solutions: add more storage (larger disk or NAS mount), reduce recording quality (record: quality: lower), reduce continuous recording retention while keeping event retention high.
Configure per-camera retention based on priority
Not all cameras need the same retention. High-priority cameras (front door, driveway) should have longer retention: cameras: front_door: record: retain: default: 14, events: retain: default: 60. Low-priority cameras (garage interior, backyard wide angle) can have shorter retention: cameras: garage: record: retain: default: 3, events: retain: default: 14. This optimizes storage allocation — important cameras keep more history, less critical cameras use less space.
Set retain mode to limit what gets saved
Recording everything continuously uses the most storage. Use retain modes to reduce storage consumption: record: retain: default: 7, mode: motion saves only segments with motion (not silent/empty frames). record: events: retain: default: 30, mode: active_objects saves event clips only when an object is actively being tracked. The motion mode alone can reduce storage by 50-80% compared to mode: all, allowing your retention settings to actually be honored instead of being overridden by storage pressure.
Monitor the Frigate cleanup schedule
Frigate runs a cleanup task periodically that deletes recordings beyond their retention period. If the cleanup process is not running (Frigate restart interrupted it, or the database is locked): old recordings accumulate and fill storage, causing newer recordings to be deleted instead. Check Frigate logs for 'Cleaning up recordings' messages. If you see database lock errors: stop Frigate, make a backup of frigate.db, and restart. A corrupted database can cause the cleanup scheduler to fail silently.
Quick Solutions
Still having issues? This is usually the deeper cause below.
If this comes back after following these steps, check whether a recent app or firmware update reset a default setting — the fix works, but the setting gets reverted silently.
Retention policy clarity prevents accidental loss of evidence.
This issue almost always looks more complex than it is — the majority of cases trace back to a single setting, a stale credential, or a default that shipped wrong.
- Storage full forcing early cleanup
- Recording retention (retain.days) set low
- Recording mode retaining less (motion vs all)
- High bitrate/continuous filling storage
- Separate retention for events vs recordings
Before you go — try one of these (they fix most cases).
Official Manufacturer Manual
Frigate provides official product documentation through their online manual rather than downloadable PDF. Access setup guides, troubleshooting steps, and product specifications for your Frigate Retention Policy Issues.
Source: docs.frigate.video
Need More Help? Frigate Support
Note: The contact information below connects you directly to Frigate's official customer support team, not Trunetto. They can help with warranty claims, device replacements, and advanced technical issues.
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