Video Retention — Understanding Recording Expiration – Theator

Your organization decides how long surgical recordings are kept. Some organizations keep every recording indefinitely; others keep them for a set number of days, after which the recording expires and is permanently deleted. Once a recording has expired, it cannot be recovered. This article explains how to check the retention period that applies to your cases and what you can do to keep a case before it expires.

What retention means

Retention is set at the organization level and can differ between departments. There are two kinds of policy:

Short-term retention — recordings are kept for a limited number of days and then expire.
Indefinite retention — recordings are kept until they are removed according to your hospital's policy.

If your organization uses short-term retention, each recording has a point in time at which it expires.

How to check your retention policy

You can see the policy that currently applies to your cases in your settings:

Click your name in the top-right corner of the Theator platform.
Select User Settings from the dropdown menu.
Click the Recording Preferences tab.
Locate the Case recording settings section.
Under Derived policy by organisation, read your current policy. It reads either "record and save for [period]" (short-term retention) or "record and save indefinitely" (no expiration).

If the line says indefinitely, no scheduled expiration applies to your recordings, though they may still be removed at any time under your hospital's policy. If it names a period, that period is how long each recording is kept before it expires.

What happens when a recording expires

When a recording reaches the end of its retention period, the video is permanently deleted. The case still appears in Theator, but its video player shows Expired in place of the recording. Theator cannot restore an expired video.

Keeping a case before it expires

If a case is important and its recording is approaching expiration, you have two options — both must be done before the recording expires:

Save the case (keeps it in Theator). If your organization allows it, open the case before its retention period ends and use the Save option. A saved case is kept beyond the standard retention period and displays a Saved badge on the case page. Saving is not available once a case has already expired, and some organizations restrict who can save cases.
Download the recording (creates an offline copy). If your organization allows downloading, download the full recording or a clip from the case page. The download preserves a copy for offline review, but it does not prevent the original case from expiring in Theator. See How can I download the case recording or a clip? for the steps.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Theator restore a video after it has expired? No. When a recording expires it is permanently deleted and cannot be recovered.

How do I know whether my cases expire? Check the Derived policy by organisation line under Recording Preferences in your User Settings. "Indefinitely" means no scheduled expiration is set (though your hospital's policy may still allow removal); a named period means each recording is kept for that long before it expires.

Can I stop a case from expiring in Theator? Yes, but only before it expires. Use the Save option on the case (if your organization permits it) to keep it in Theator beyond the standard retention period. Downloading only creates an offline copy — it does not change when the case expires in Theator. Saving is not available once the case has already expired.

Who sets the retention period? Your organization's admins set retention at the organization or department level. If you need a different period, contact your department admin or Theator support.

What's Next?

How to Change Your Personal Recording Policy — Choose whether your cases are recorded
How can I download the case recording or a clip? — Download an offline copy before the recording expires