If you suddenly get a message “Sorry. Unless You’ve Got a Time Machine, That Content is Unavailable” when you open a hyperlink to a Twitch channel or video, that means you just got Twitch Time Machine Error.
What is Twitch Time Machine Error?
When the Twitch server can’t find the channel or the video you want to watch from the link, it will show Time Machine Error on your browser. Twitch Time Machine Error commonly occur if you open a Twitch hyperlink from social media and 3rd party website. Time Machine error happens when the video already deleted or moved from the original Twitch server
Even if you refresh your web browser, it will keep showing the same message. Many situations cause this error to appear. You can still potentially watch the content in some cases, albeit it rarely happens.
What are the causes of Twitch Time Machine Error?
The most common causes of Time Machine Error are the streamer’s channel account has already been banned. After getting a ban, the VOD and upload on their channel will be inaccessible to all viewers. Twitch Time Machine Error can still happen when the streamer deletes the video or renames their channel name, causing the previous hyperlink to become useless
There are many more causes of Twitch Time Machine Error. I explain it more thoroughly in the article below
The Video has been deleted on Twitch due to TOS Violation
Twitch strictly enforces its Terms of Services to give the best but safe experiences to Twitch users and streamers mustn’t violate the TOS on the Twitch platform. Videos will be deleted by Twitch if they violate the Twitch TOS. Such videos may include violence, racism, hate attack, harassment, privacy violation, pornography, and violation of Intellectual Property Right
Act like cheating and stream sniping on online games are also forbidden by Twitch Community Guidelines. A few months ago, a Warzone Streamer on Twitch, “AAmerica” was banned after caught cheating on online games.
Twitch also has a list of games that are forbidden to stream on their platform. I have compiled the list of games you must not play in my previous blog article. You must be careful to not play these kinds of games.
Violation of TOS can make Twitch delete your video without any notice, leading to Twitch Time Machine Error when viewers try to open your video. It’s a light punishment because at least Twitch doesn’t suspend your account.
What if you get a temporary suspension? It’s harsh punishment because sometimes Twitch doesn’t tell the exact duration of the suspension
Again, at least it still temporary. Twitch can permanently ban your account, and it will be almost impossible to recover your channel. Losing your Twitch account if you have a streamer as your day job will be disastrous to you
The Video has been Deleted by the Streamer themselves
Sometimes, the streamer themselves is the one who deletes the VOD, highlights and clip on their channel. Maybe they don’t need the video and want to clean up the VOD archives on their channel. Some old videos can be unrelated to the current streamer gameplay and stream, so they delete the videos to get more targeted viewers
The most common cause why streamer deletes their video is because the video violates Twitch TOS and Privacy policy. Accidents can happen during a stream. Many streamers getting a ban punishment because they unintentionally violate the TOS
So, they preemptively delete the video, hoping that Twitch never notices it. The thing is, even if you delete the video, Twitch viewer can still access it as long they have the link
Time Machine error only happens when the data on the Twitch server already deleted, which takes around 7-21 days after the video is deleted.
DMCA Strike on Video
DMCA is the second of the most feared word after “account suspension” by many Twitch streamers. Having copyrighted music during your stream can lead your video to get DMCA strike. Streamers have the option to edit the video to remove the copyrighted content or fully remove the video.
After the video removed, viewers will get Twitch Machine Error when they try to open the link to the video
Music is not the only content that has a copyright on Twitch. The video that has Intellectual Property like Anime and Movie are copyrighted and streamer can’t stream the content without the owner permission.
Some streamers that stream anime use tricks like changing the video color, blocking some parts of the video, mute the voice, and many other ways to avoid getting DMCA strike. Sometimes it works, sometimes it not
The Streamer’s Twitch Account was banned (or deleted)
If streamers violate Twitch TOS, then their account can get temporarily suspended. After doing repeated violations, the channel can get a permanent ban. If your video keeps getting removed or you get DMCA strike, you need to be careful. Don’t keep making the same mistake.
If you get an account ban, then all your videos, VODs, highlights, and clips will be deleted. If viewers try to watch the video, they will get a Time machine error notification on their web browser
You can only hope that your fans will help you to recover your account by being viral on Twitter. But don’t get your hope up. Unless you are a popular streamer with thousands of loyal fans, it won’t happen to most streamers
Some streamers stopped streaming. Maybe they realize streaming is not their passion, or they don’t see any growth on their channel. If they delete their account, a Time Machine error will appear instead if viewers try to open the deleted channel
I recommend opening the Twitch Community Guidelines to learn what kind of action that can lead to the removal of content or even suspension of your account. By knowing these, it can prevent you from getting banned
The Streamer Change Their Channel Name
Each Twitch Channel names are unique. Channel names will determine your channel web page hyperlink. If you change your Channel name, the hyperlink also changed. This can lead to a Time machine error if a visitor tries to open your stream or video from the old hyperlink
The only solution if you are the streamer who has this kind of problem to tell your viewers on social media accounts that you change your channel name. Your followers and subscribers will get a notification that your channel name was changed
Some of Twitch servers are down
Sometimes, Twitch servers are down, creating connection problems. Videos are hosted on multiple servers and proxies. Usually, the nearest server is the one responsible for sending the data to your PC. If the server is down, you can get Time Machine Error even though other viewers don’t have this problem
You can try to refresh your web browser, restarting your modem and PC first.
If it doesn’t work, what you can only do is wait until the server is fixed and went online. You can try to use VPN to bypass this problem.
Error on your Web Browser
When you visit Twitch, your web browser stores cache and cookies data from Twitch. Sometimes, the cache and cookies expired, causing Time Machine error.
You can simply delete the cache and cookies data on your web browser to solve this problem.
How To Solve the Time Machine Error on Twitch as Channel Owner
First, you must analyze why Time Machine Error occurs on your channel.
You need to check the following thing:
- Check if your account is suspended or not
- Check if you get DMCA strike on your channel
- Check if the video deleted or not?
If the answer is yes, you need tocontact Twitch Support first to solve your problem.
If the answer is no, maybe the cause of the Time Machine Error is not from your channel. Try to restart your modem and PC to check if you still get the same Time Machine error message or not
If you change your channel name, you need to search which website has the link to your channel. You can kindly ask for the website owner to change their link of your channel to a new link
How to Watch Deleted Content on Twitch
You can still watch deleted videos on Twitch by using another platform. Many fans or the streamer themselves upload the stream and VOD to YouTube. You can try to search the video on YouTube to find the backup of the video.
But not all stream is saved on YouTube. You can search for the deleted content on Wayback Machine. Even though it’s rare, sometimes you can find the backup of deleted popular VODs on there