What happens to my files if my cloud provider shuts down?
The short answer
A reputable provider that closes usually gives you 30 to 90 days to download your data. Past shutdowns have shown that. The harder cases are a sudden bankruptcy, an account ban without appeal or an acquisition that ends a product quickly. The best protection is simple. Keep anything irreplaceable with more than one provider.
In detail
Orderly closures happen regularly and quietly. The service sends emails for months and most users move their files without loss. Disorderly closures are rarer. The classic example is Megaupload in 2012. A sudden legal shutdown froze user data overnight and most users had no way to get it back. Some smaller lifetime-storage startups have closed with only weeks of notice. The most common problem is personal, though.
An automated account suspension can lock you out of a perfectly healthy service. A flagged payment or a misfiring terms-of-service check is enough. Appeals can then take a long time.
Three things protect you, in order of importance. The first is the 3-2-1 setup. With it, any provider can close and you still have your files. The second is choosing providers well. Look for a decade of operation and open finances or a large parent company. Easy data export without lock-in formats helps too. The third is a regular export of what matters most. Refresh an encrypted archive of your irreplaceable files once a year. It costs one evening.
One note for lifetime buyers. The best lifetime offers often come from younger companies that want to grow. That makes them a little riskier over the long run. It is also why the offer is so good. A lifetime plan works beautifully as a second copy of your files. In every scenario, more than one copy keeps you safe.