Photographers typically keep photos of their clients for a minimum of 90 days and up to a full year as part of standard practice; however, if this is important to you, review the contract and ask your professional.

There is no universal law, but the industry standard for professional photographers is to keep digital files for one to two years, though many established studios offer "archival" storage for much longer. Most contracts will specify a minimum "safety period" (often 90 days to one year) during which the photographer guarantees the files will be available for download or re-ordering. After this period, many photographers will move the files to "deep storage" (offline hard drives or cloud archives) to make room for new clients, or they may delete the "unselected" RAW files while keeping the final edited JPEGs. In 2026, the cost of digital storage has decreased, allowing some photographers to keep files for 5 to 10 years as a courtesy or a paid service. However, it is vital for clients to download their gallery and create their own backups (such as on an external drive and a personal cloud service) immediately after receiving them, as hardware failures or business closures can result in the permanent loss of the images regardless of the photographer's initial policy.