# Discord moderation limits and retention

> A Discord timeout lasts a maximum of 28 days, and the audit log retains entries for 45 days. After that window Discord holds no record of the action, which is why third-party bots keep their own moderation history.

- Canonical: https://discordtools.blog/reference/discord-moderation-limits
- Section: Platform
- Published: 2026-08-31
- Author: The Index desk
- Facts checked: 2026-08-31
- Sources:
  - Discord Developer Portal — audit log (https://docs.discord.com/developers/resources/audit-log) — checked 2026-08-31
  - Discord Developer Portal — guild member (https://docs.discord.com/developers/resources/guild) — checked 2026-08-31
- Publication: The Index, an independent site not affiliated with Discord Inc.

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## Ceilings

| Limit | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Maximum timeout duration | 28 days |
| Audit log retention | 45 days |
| Bulk delete age limit | 14 days |
| Bulk delete batch size | 2–100 messages |

## What the platform does not keep

Two absences drive most third-party moderation tooling:

1. **The audit log forgets after 45 days.** Six and a half weeks after an incident, Discord
   cannot tell you who deleted the channel or who issued the ban.
2. **The audit log never stores message content.** It records that a message was deleted, not
   what it said.

Any bot offering longer history or deleted-message content is storing that itself — which is
worth knowing both for trusting it and for understanding what you lose if you remove it.

**Vetox** keeps its own moderation case history and logging, with per-member queryable history
that outlives the platform window. Logging and case history are on the free Starter tier.