> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.thundercompute.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Snapshots

> Manage system snapshots directly within the VSCode environment. Create, restore, and organize backups to preserve your current development state.

<Columns cols={3}>
  <Card title="VS Code" icon="window" color="#95c5ea" className="platform-card platform-current">
    Editor extension
  </Card>

  <Card title="CLI" icon="terminal" href="/cli/operations/snapshots" color="#95c5ea" className="platform-card">
    Command line
  </Card>

  <Card title="Console" icon="browser" href="/console/operations/snapshots" color="#95c5ea" className="platform-card">
    Web interface
  </Card>
</Columns>

## Create a Snapshot

1. Open the Thunder Compute sidebar panel.
2. Right click the running instance.
3. Select **Create Snapshot**.
4. Name the new snapshot.

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/thundercompute/E4VZCfEN9n0k1lco/images/VSCode_Create_Snapshot.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=E4VZCfEN9n0k1lco&q=85&s=6dfcfd566cdab58630c0c69221f31fe4" alt="Step by step on creating a snapshot" width="1400" height="700" data-path="images/VSCode_Create_Snapshot.png" />

Snapshotting happens in the background—you can continue using your instance immediately. The snapshot captures the exact state of the persistent disk at the moment you initiated it.

<Warning>
  [Ephemeral storage](/guides/ephemeral-storage) (`/ephemeral`) is **not included** in snapshots. Back up any important data from ephemeral storage before snapshotting.
</Warning>

<Note>
  There is a limit of 50 snapshots.
</Note>

## View Snapshots

Your snapshots appear in the Thunder Compute panel below your instances.

## Restore from a Snapshot

1. Create a new instance.
2. Open the template menu.
3. Select your snapshot.

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/thundercompute/E4VZCfEN9n0k1lco/images/VSCode_Restore_Snapshot_New_Instance.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=E4VZCfEN9n0k1lco&q=85&s=79a524fd5d6dd50aeb251acd7c83ad87" alt="Step by step on restoring a snapshot" width="1400" height="700" data-path="images/VSCode_Restore_Snapshot_New_Instance.png" />

<Note>
  Restoring from a snapshot can take up to 8 minutes per 100GB of data.
</Note>

## Delete a Snapshot

1. Open the Thunder Compute sidebar panel.
2. Right click the snapshot.
3. Select **Delete Snapshot**.

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/thundercompute/E4VZCfEN9n0k1lco/images/VSCode_Delete_Snapshot.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=E4VZCfEN9n0k1lco&q=85&s=cede99e16c9b5085c4eccd457017a7a0" alt="Step by step on deleting a snapshot" width="1400" height="700" data-path="images/VSCode_Delete_Snapshot.png" />

## Best Practices

1. **Name snapshots descriptively**: Include the project, date, or purpose (e.g., `llama-finetuned-jan2026`)

2. **Clean up unused snapshots**: To minimize your bill, remove snapshots you no longer need.

## Snapshots vs External Backups

Snapshots are great for quickly restoring your environment, but they’re meant for convenience rather than long-term data security. We do not provide explicit guarantees about snapshot durability. For long-term data preservation, consider using:

* **GitHub** for code and configuration
* **Local downloads** for important outputs
* **Cloud storage** (R2, Google Drive) for large files

To learn about optimizing the a snapshot for faster creation and restoration, refer to our [Speeding Up Snapshots](/guides/speeding-up-snapshots) guide.