Snapshot Internals

Snapshots contain a read-only set of files that can be automatically removed after a set period of time. Only Site Administrators have direct access to snapshots and their underlying files.

Snapshot File Storage

The files that belong to your snapshots are stored in a hidden system folder, based on the internal ID number of the snapshot. For example, the files for a snapshot with the ID number 29816 are found at the path _/Snapshots/29816/, and the files for a snapshot with the ID number 48762 are located at _/Snapshots/48762/.

Site Administrators do not have complete control over the _ or _/Snapshots folders, and they have Full but not Admin level permissions to the individual snapshot folders. You cannot configure any folder settings (or Webhooks, Email Notifications, File Expiration, etc.) for snapshot folders.

Because snapshot contents are always stored within the system folder, those contents are always stored within the native Files.com platform storage at the default storage region for your site.

Snapshots Can Have an Expiration Date

Snapshots that are automatically generated by creating a snapshot Share Link have an expiration date, which can never be more than 60 days after the snapshot was created. As a result, snapshot Share Links always expire, and the expiration cannot be more than 60 days after the Share Link was created.

Snapshots created without a Share Link can also have an expiration date, but one is not required. Without an expiration date, you must delete the snapshot to remove its files from your site.

If a snapshot has an expiration, the file contents, including the snapshot's hidden directory, are removed from your site when that date is reached.

Snapshots Can Have a Name

Snapshots that are automatically generated by creating a Share Link include the ID of the matching Share Link, which lets you determine that the snapshot belongs to a Share Link.

When you manually create and manage a snapshot (without a Share Link), you can add a name to the snapshot. We strongly urge you to always add a name to your directly-managed snapshots, so that you can easily recall the purpose of each.

Snapshots Must Be Finalized

Snapshots include a date that indicates when the snapshot was finalized. Finalizing a snapshot makes the snapshot read-only.

Snapshots must be finalized no more than 96 hours after the snapshot is created. Un-finalized snapshots older than this limit are automatically removed by the platform.

Finalizing a snapshot cannot be undone.

Adding Files to Snapshots

While a snapshot is not yet finalized, you can change its contents.

To copy file paths from another part of your site (including on a Remote Server Mount), update the snapshot to indicate which paths to copy. This starts a background process that copies all the relevant files from the paths you added. This method is the most convenient way to add files, because it uses the parallelization and automatic retry logic built into the platform.

You can also directly add files to the un-finalized snapshot's directory by uploading, copying, or moving them to the correct path in the underscore directory. This lets you store files in your snapshot that are not included in any other parts of your site.

Removing Snapshot Files

The directory for each snapshot is automatically removed by the platform when the snapshot expires, or when you delete a snapshot.

While a snapshot is not yet finalized, you can change the contents of its directory, including deleting items from it. Any Site Administrator can delete a snapshot using one of our official SDKs or the Command Line Interface (CLI) application.