Flickr Delaying Photo Deletion For Free Users Until March

Flickr announced last November that it would drop its free tier from 1TB of storage to just 1,000 photos. Originally, Flicker said those who didn’t pay $50 to upgrade to the Pro tier would have their images deleted on February 5th, but now it’s giving users a bit more time.

USA Today reports that Flicker has extended its deletion deadline to March 12th. This means users now have an extra month to decide whether to upgrade to the Pro tier or download all of their images and look elsewhere for cloud storage. On March 12th, free accounts will have all images beyond 1,000 deleted.

According to today’s report, many users attempted to download their images this week, but the onslaught of download requests put a strain on Flickr servers. Scott Kinzie, SmugMug VP, said user feedback is what has prompted the extension to March:

Users have two options for downloading their Flickr data. Your first choice is to download in 500-photo chunks. Flickr limits manual downloads to 500, which is not ideal if you have thousands of photos to work through. Through your account page on Flickr, you can also request a download file with all of your data. It may take a few days, but you’ll eventually receive an email with zip files containing your images.

“Our goal has been to ensure that Flickr members have ample time to make an informed decision as to how they can best continue to protect and enjoy their photos on Flickr,” says Kinzie. “Our foremost priority is to be certain that every Flickr member is aware that photographs may be at risk for deletion if they are stored in a Flickr Free account that has more than 1000 photos.”

Read the full download instructions on Flickr’s website.