In plaque-assay based viral discovery many more plaques are often generated than can be examined at any one time, it is therefore of value to be able to archive plaques for future investigation. To address the potential for differences among viruses in tolerance to storage, this protocol provides large-scale archival approaches that include storage of picked plaques at both 4°C and -20°C or -80°C. We note however, that viruses differ in their sensitivity to storage conditions (Clark 1962 [1]; Fortier and Moineau 2009 [2]) and, though we describe methods that include multiple conditions, we highlight also that including additional approaches, such as storage in infected cells (Golec et al. 2011 [3]), is likely to increase total proportion of recovered viruses in large collections.[1] Clark, W.A. (1962). Comparison of Several Methods for Preserving Bacteriophages. Appl. Microbiol. 10, 466–471. [2] Fortier, L.-C., and Moineau, S. (2009). Phage Production and Maintenance of Stocks, Including Expected Stock Lifetimes. In Bacteriophages, M.R.J. Clokie, and A.M. Kropinski, eds. (Humana Press), pp. 203–219. [3] Golec, P., Dąbrowski, K., Hejnowicz, M.S., Gozdek, A., Łoś, J.M., Węgrzyn, G., Łobocka, M.B., and Łoś, M. (2011). A reliable method for storage of tailed phages. Journal of Microbiological Methods 84, 486–489.