Forum:How long do images hang around for?

Does anyone know how long after deleting an image it becomes impossible to restore/undelete? Thanks-- Category:Acer4666 09:54, April 26, 2012 (UTC)
 * Never. The server will retain a copy of the image for archive purposes.— subtank  ( 7alk ) 10:09, April 26, 2012 (UTC)
 * Ah, thought so. For some reason you can now no longer undelete from the file page, which is what was making me think deleted images had been cleared-- Category:Acer4666 10:13, April 26, 2012 (UTC)
 * That is not true. To test:
 * Go to Special:Log/delete (On a wiki which has had images deleted years ago and where you have admin rights)
 * Click "earliest", and scroll down to find the earliest image you can, and try to undelete it
 * Here's an image I just undeleted: http://saintsrow.wikia.com/wiki/File:782646-untitled_large.jpg - the image is gone.
 * (I waited several days to see if anything changed, but it is still a broken image, so I've deleted it again. --user452 00:30, May 29, 2012 (UTC))
 * I've run into this problem several times, all with images which were deleted over a year ago. Deleted images are simply not kept "forever", but i do not know how long they are kept. --user452  03:50, May 19, 2012 (UTC)
 * The earliest deleted image I can view properly is Feb 2010, so it looks like deleted images are kept for at least 2 years. --user452 03:55, May 19, 2012 (UTC)


 * Clearly a Special:Contact question. Any answer from someone not Wikia staff is merely gueswork. -- Fandyllic (talk &middot; contr) 31 May 2012 12:56 PM Pacific
 * Thanks, but I didn't ask a question. It is a solid fact that no deleted images from before Feb 2010 are currently accessible.  --user452  03:21, June 1, 2012 (UTC)