Create The Snapshot
Define a new snapshot — give it a name and, ideally, an expiration date. It starts out open, so you can keep building it before you lock it down.
Freeze Your Files Exactly As They Are Today
A snapshot is a read-only, point-in-time copy of any set of files on your site. Define it, add the files, finalize it — and the contents are locked. Nothing can change them after that. It is what a legal hold, a ransomware-proof backup, or a send-it-as-it-is-today share link needs: a moment in time you can prove stayed exactly as you left it.
A Copy That Can’t Be Changed Or Encrypted Later
Some files have to be provable. The day a legal hold starts, the records have to stay exactly as they were that day. After a ransomware incident, you need a copy the malware could not have touched. When you send someone the files as of today, they should download today’s files, not whatever the folder holds tomorrow. A snapshot does all of that: a set of files copied at one moment and then frozen.
You can build a snapshot from files anywhere on your site, including folders you’ve mounted from external storage through Remote Server Mounts, which is how a snapshot becomes an immutable local backup of data that lives in S3 or SharePoint. For ongoing, site-wide rules about how long files live, pair snapshots with data retention and Archive-Only Mode.
How A Snapshot Works
Four steps, and the order is the point: you build it open, then you lock it for good.
Add The Files
Point the snapshot at file paths from anywhere on your site, including folders mounted from external storage, and Files.com copies them in the background with automatic retries. You can also upload, copy, or move files directly into it.
Finalize It
Finalizing flips the snapshot to read-only. From that moment the contents cannot change, and that is one-way — finalizing cannot be undone. You can still edit the name and expiration date afterward, just not the files.
Let It Expire
Set an expiration date and Files.com automatically removes the snapshot when the date arrives — no manual cleanup. Skip the date and the snapshot stays until you delete it yourself.
What Teams Use Snapshots For
Survive A Ransomware Hit
A finalized snapshot cannot be altered or encrypted after the fact — not by a user, not by an automation, not by malware that gets onto a connected machine. It is a clean, immutable copy of your files as they were the day you took it.
Lock In A Legal Hold
When a hold is triggered, the files have to stay exactly as they were that day. A snapshot captures that state and preserves it — without freezing the working folders or changing anyone’s access in the meantime.
Back Up External Storage
Files in a mounted S3 bucket or SharePoint library might change or disappear in the source system. A snapshot of those mounted files is an immutable local copy on Files.com that does not move when the original does.
Send Files As They Are Today
A snapshot share link sends the files as of the moment you created it, not a live view that shifts as the folder changes tomorrow. The recipient downloads exactly the state you intended to send.
Available On Every Plan
Snapshots ship across Starter, Power, and Enterprise. You can manage them in the app or automate them through the SDKs and CLI — for example, a scheduled job that takes a nightly immutable copy of a critical folder. The broader compliance posture snapshots support, such as Archive-Only Mode and the HIPAA BAA, overlaps with Enterprise-tier features; see what each plan includes on the pricing page.
Snapshot Questions
What teams ask about immutability, storage, time limits, and automating point-in-time copies.
Finalizing the snapshot. A snapshot starts out open so you can add files, and when you finalize it the contents become read-only and can no longer change. Finalizing cannot be undone. After finalization you can still edit the snapshot’s name and expiration date, but never the files inside it.
A snapshot is a point-in-time, read-only copy of a specific set of files. Data retention controls — like Archive-Only Mode — govern how long files live and whether they can be deleted across entire folders or sites on an ongoing basis. The two compose: use data retention for site-wide rules and snapshots for capturing a specific moment, such as the day a legal hold begins.
Snapshot contents are always stored within native Files.com platform storage, in the default storage region for your site. They live in a managed system folder, so regional placement follows your site’s default region rather than a per-snapshot setting. Snapshot creation, finalization, and deletion are all recorded in the audit log.
Yes. A snapshot must be finalized within 96 hours of creation. Unfinalized snapshots older than that are automatically removed by the platform. If your workflow needs a longer staging window, finalize sooner or design around the limit. Snapshots created automatically by a snapshot share link always carry an expiration, capped at 60 days.
Yes. Direct snapshot management — create, add files, finalize, and delete — is available through the official SDKs and the Command Line Interface, so you can script periodic snapshots, such as a nightly immutable copy of a critical folder. Only Site Administrators have direct access to snapshots and their underlying files.
Snapshots provide WORM-style behavior — once finalized, contents are immutable — but Files.com does not currently certify against SEC Rule 17a-4(f), FINRA Rule 4511, or other formal WORM-storage regulations. If a regulation specifically requires that certification, contact sales; that is a contractual conversation rather than a marketing claim.
Capture A Moment You Can Prove
Start a free trial, build a snapshot from any files on your site, and finalize it into a read-only copy that no user, automation, or attacker can change.
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