Snapshots

Create point-in-time images of your compute instances for fast recovery, cloning, or golden-image workflows.

What are Snapshots?

Snapshots are point-in-time images of an instance's disks. They can be used to restore an instance to a previous state or to create new instances with the same configuration and data.

Key concepts

Instance snapshot — a captured state of an instance's disks
Status lifecycle — creating, downloading, active, deleting, error_deleting
Sizing — displayed in GB for clarity
Actions — delete snapshots when no longer needed

When to use it

Clone an instance into a new environment
Save a known-good baseline before upgrades or config changes
Quickly roll back to a previous state during incidents

Features

One-click create from an ACTIVE instance
Clear, animated status indicators during creation and deletion
Desktop table and mobile cards view

UI behavior summary

Only instances with status ACTIVE are listed for snapshot creation.
Status badges: creating/downloading while in progress, active when completed, deleting during removal.
Actions include: Delete snapshot.

Pricing

Snapshots are billed based on the storage size occupied. See Billing for details.

Next: Step-by-step Guide

Looking for a hands-on walkthrough? See the guide:

Go to the Snapshots Guide → Create, manage, and delete snapshots