Cloud Apps
Snapshots: taking, restoring and keeping them
Every app includes one snapshot free. Keeping more is a paid add-on on the subscription.
A snapshot is a full archive of an app's data at a point in time, taken by us and restorable in a click.
Taking one
Open the app, go to Snapshots, and take one. The app is stopped briefly while the archive is made, so its data is consistent, then started again.
Take one before you do anything risky — an update, a configuration change, a bulk import.
What is included free
Every app on every plan includes one snapshot at no charge. That is not per subscription; it is per app.
If you already have your free snapshot and want another, you can delete the old one and take a fresh one, or enable the snapshots add-on.
Keeping more than one
The add-on is enabled per subscription, under Cloud Apps → subscriptions, and raises how many snapshots each app may keep:
| Subscription | Snapshots per app |
|---|---|
| Nano | 2 |
| Small | 2 |
| Medium | 2 |
| Large | 3 |
| XL | 4 |
| XXL | 5 |
The reason this is a count rather than something your disk allowance absorbs is that archives are stored outside your app's disk quota, on separate storage.
Restoring
From the same tab, choose a snapshot and restore it. The app is stopped, its data is replaced with the archive, and it is started again. Anything written since the snapshot is gone — restoring is not a merge.
Downloading
Snapshots can be downloaded from the panel. There is no export fee, and the archive is a normal file you can keep wherever you like.
What snapshots are not
They are a convenience, not a backup strategy. Keep your own copy of anything you cannot afford to lose, and test that you can actually restore it.
Snapshots on a schedule
You do not have to remember to take them. On the app's Snapshots tab you can set a schedule:
- Daily — taken every day.
- Weekly — taken once a week.
- Off — the default. Nothing is taken automatically.
Each scheduled snapshot replaces the previous automatic one, so a schedule uses one snapshot slot rather than filling your allowance. The new one is taken first and the old one only removed once it has succeeded, so a failed run never leaves you with nothing.
Your manual snapshots are never touched by a schedule. If you take one before an update, it stays until you remove it.
Which to choose
Daily suits anything you change often — a blog you post to, a wiki people edit, a helpdesk taking tickets. Weekly is usually enough for something that mostly sits there.
A schedule is not a substitute for taking one by hand before you do something risky. An automatic snapshot could be up to a day old; one you take deliberately is from thirty seconds ago.
What it does not do
Snapshots live on our infrastructure. They protect you from a bad update or a mistake inside the app — they are not an off-site backup, and they are deleted with everything else if you cancel.
If the data genuinely matters, download a copy as well. The Files tab gives you SFTP access, and most apps have their own export.
Still stuck? Get in touch — a person reads every message.