How to Convert Backups to Snapshots

Backups are automatically-created disk images of Droplets. Enabling backups for Droplets enables system-level backups at weekly intervals, which provides a way to revert to an older state or create new Droplets.

Backups and snapshots are both disk images of Droplets. Backups are taken automatically and retained for four weeks, but snapshots are taken manually and retained until you choose to delete them. If you want to keep a backup indefinitely, you can convert it to a snapshot.

Note

When a backup is converted to a snapshot, snapshot pricing applies.

To convert a backup to a snapshot, from the control panel, click the name of the Droplet with the backup you want to convert. Click Backups in the left navigation and, in the Droplet backups section, open the More menu of the backup.

Click Convert to snapshot. This removes the backup from the list of available backups and adds it to the list of snapshots (in the Snapshots tab).

You can create Droplets based on snapshots and copy snapshots to additional datacenter regions.