How Long Should You Keep CCTV Footage?

One of the most common questions business owners and homeowners ask is:

"How long should my security camera footage be stored?"

The answer depends on your property, security needs, and the amount of activity your cameras record.

General CCTV Storage Guidelines

🏠 Homes
Typically 14–30 days of footage is sufficient for most residential properties.

🏪 Retail Stores
Most businesses benefit from 30–90 days of storage to help investigate theft, disputes, or other incidents.

🏢 Offices & Commercial Properties
Many businesses choose 30–60 days depending on their operations and security requirements.

🏭 Warehouses & Industrial Facilities
Often require 60–90+ days of retention due to inventory management, liability concerns, and incident investigations.

What Affects Storage Time?

✅ Number of Cameras
✅ Video Resolution (HD, 4K, etc.)
✅ Motion Recording vs. Continuous Recording
✅ Hard Drive Capacity
✅ Cloud Storage Options

Why Longer Retention Matters

Imagine discovering a problem weeks after it happened:

🔍 Inventory Missing
🚚 Delivery Disputes
🚨 Vandalism or Theft
⚠️ Employee or Customer Incidents

If your footage has already been overwritten, valuable evidence could be lost.

At Digital Surveillance, we help homeowners and businesses throughout Los Angeles and Orange County choose the right recording solution to ensure important footage is available when it's needed most.