Chat logs are an invaluable source of information for a streamer. Its value is not in simply holding a conversation with viewers during streaming. A lot can be found there that can help the streamer improve your brand or content.
Key Takeaway
- When you want to see all the comments a single user has left in your chat, all you have to do is type ‘/user’ and then their username in your chat box, and you will see all the comments they left.
- Through moderator view that you can enter by clicking on the sword symbol at the bottom of the screen. Now just click on someone’s username, and you’ll be able to see all their messages in your chat.
You can also learn much about your audience and find feedback regarding your game. You can also see if there is anyone who spoils the fun and take some precautions if needed.
Let’s talk about accessing and managing Twitch chat logs!
Table of Contents
Ways to Check Twitch Chat History
You can access the chat history Twitch in a few ways that give you different options and scopes for search. None of these is ideal, but they all have their good sides. You can choose the one that fits your needs best.
1. Twitch Chat Logs by User
The User Search Command is a very simple search that requires you to type only the nick of the user you want to check out in the chatbox of your channel. The command is /user (instead of the word ‘user’, write the name of the viewer you want to find). You will get several pieces of information about the user:
- When they made the account.
- The number of messages they wrote on your channel.
- The contents of those messages.
- The number of times they were timed out.
- The number of times they were banned.
- Mods’ comments about them.
If the mod has removed some comments of the user in question, those will not appear here. So, if you are using this method to find out why someone was timed out or banned, you can find the time when that happened and then use the chat in VOD to see the deleted content.
2. Check the Whole Chat – VOD
The complete Twitch watch history, including the full chat, can be seen with the Video on Demand archive. When this tool is activated, it records everything that happens during your stream. Currently, this is the only way to see the entire chat log with the comments that were deleted during a stream.
If there was a problematic happening in the chatbox during your stream and the mod removed the offensive messages, reviewing them can be done only by following the Twitch view history on VODs. The downside is that you have to go through the whole video to find the moment you need, so it would be useful if you have an idea of what approximate time you need.
You should not procrastinate with using this method, as these videos cannot be seen for a long time. For partners, they are available for 60 days, for affiliates for two weeks, while for non-affiliates only for a few days.
3. Third-Party Programs for Twitch Chatlogs
The chatlog Twitch tools are not diverse, so for more options, many streamers choose to use some third-party programs. There are some that are open-source and some that are paid for. They have various options but not all of them keep the whole chat log, so make sure to check that when you choose a program.
Probably the most popular log viewer Twitch streamers use is the Chatty software. It is open-source, so it is free to download. It has many useful options for streamers and mods to follow and moderate the chat. It keeps logs for several weeks, though that has to be set up. One way around losing this data would be to store the chat history from Chatty to your computer.
4. Chatbot
This is a great way, probably the easiest, to keep track of your chatbox. The chatbot software can moderate the chat by removing comments with words from a list that you create. It can post timed messages or greet newcomers. It can also save the log so that you can browse through it or find a comment you need.
It is important to know that this bot needs to be activated for every chat and it cannot be used for chats in which it was not activated.
One of the most popular Twitch chatbots is the Nightbot. It has a wide variety of excellent features:
- Dashboard where you can see the chat and information about it, such as the most active chatters.
- Everything is saved to a cloud.
- The default settings are customizable.
- Spam detection.
- Sends automatic messages such as promotion links or preset answers to frequent questions.
- Chat logs are easily searchable.
- Viewers can request a song.
- Giveaways system for choosing a winner.
- Timer for scheduled messages.
5. Mods Can Review Twitch Chat Logs
Checking the Twitch message history doesn’t have to be done only by the streamer – moderators can do it as well. A streamer can access the moderator view and find a particular user in the following way. These two are the only Twitch chat viewers who can check chat logs for a stream.
At the bottom of the screen, click the sword icon to open the Moderator’s View. Now you can choose a user and get the info about their chat activities, including having gotten banned or timed out, any comments about them by other mods, their chat history, etc.
Deleting Twitch Logs
Twitch logs can be deleted with ease. If it doesn’t contain anything useful or is full of inappropriate content, you can eliminate the whole chat and be done with it. The steps are simple. Note that you will need to be in the moderator mode to do this.
- Click on the Settings icon (gear-shaped) that is on the bottom-left of the chatbox.
- Access the Mod Tools.
- Switch on or tick the Mod Icons; they will appear. Deleting cannot be done if this isn’t enabled.
- Type in the chat: /clear.
- Press Enter to confirm.
- Everything that was written before this will be deleted.
Moderating a Chat
You can appoint someone to be your chat moderator during streaming. This person’s task would be to follow the chat to answer questions related to the game and take necessary actions if someone misbehaves. Mods are important because you cannot play the game and follow the chat at the same time. Their role is to be your substitute for that.
There are even bots that can do a lot of actions. Some of them are responding to gaming questions with preset answers, posting promotional links in a chat, monitoring chats for banned words, and more.
However, when there are more than a few people chatting, it becomes virtually impossible to follow every single line, especially for you while you are playing a game. That is why accessing chat logs after a stream is important.
One important note: you should NEVER post the Twitch chat logs online to be seen by the public. This is a violation of Twitch Terms of Service and you can get into a lot of trouble. The reason is data privacy.
Until May 2020, there was a tool named OverRustle that was used for storing chat logs. Anyone could have accessed it. However, Twitch changed its policy, making it illegal to post chats publicly and this tool was done away with.
In the continuation, read all about twitch chat logs: why you should check them occasionally and how you can review them. The end of the text will give answers to some of the frequent questions people have regarding this topic.
Reasons for Reviewing Twitch Chat Logs
Reviewing the Twitch chat log history may be a tedious job. It often is. But there are several reasons why you should go through them from time to time. Read on and decide whether they are good enough to take up some of your time.
1. Understand your audience
Based on the comments your viewers made, you can infer what kind of content they like, which part of the stream they found uninteresting, and which was fun for them. You can use this info to improve your future streams.
2. Get feedback and collab opportunities
You may also get direct feedback regarding your channel, brand, or playstyle from your viewers. Smaller channels may also receive collaboration offers in this way, which you surely don’t want to miss.
3. Keep up with the inside jokes of your community
Your regular followers form a small community of Twitch. As time goes by, they get to know each other, communicate more and more, and it becomes inevitable for inside jokes and memes to appear. Reviewing the Twitch logs chat will help you stay up-to-date with them and you can (and should) use them to connect with your audience.
4. Analyze punishments
It may happen that someone was banned if only a time-out would have been appropriate, or the other way round. If a user reaches out to you for this and you reassess what had happened prior to disciplinary action, you can make things right. Also, a mod might choose to abuse their power and punish a user for personal reasons, which you can prevent.
5. Make sure TOS isn’t violated
Twitch has a strict Terms of Service that aims at preventing offensive and abusive behavior. But it is up to streamers and moderators to enforce those rules. If people on your channel misbehave, you may get banned. So, you should learn the rules thoroughly and make sure that they are followed on your channel. Another reason not to ignore insulting comments is keeping your viewers – because they may come to think that you agree with them and leave your channel.
6. Discover banned users
As Twitch accounts are free, they can be used by banned users to re-enter your channel. If you had problems with someone, you may wish to check your Twitch chat records for similar names or writing styles and make sure that a toxic user hasn’t come back to post inappropriate comments again.
See who is loyal to your channel. Browsing through a chat log, you can also see the users who are most active in your community and this can be used to give out praise or rewards.
Conclusion
This text was there to show you some basic ideas behind the Twitch chat logs. First, you could read the reasons why you should check your log occasionally.
The next section was about the five ways to access the Twitch chat archive. What followed was a short guide on how to delete a chat log that you don’t need.
In the end, some of the burning questions were answered regarding the topic. I hope that the text was useful for you. Have fun chatting and reviewing your chats.
Related: Twitch Chat Rules – Top Basic and Custom Chat Rules
