# How to Restore Files From a Network File Storage Snapshot

Network File Storage is a fully managed, POSIX-compliant file storage solution built for demanding workloads like AI/ML pipelines, containerized applications, and DigitalOcean Kubernetes (DOKS) clusters. It provides scalable, high-throughput shared storage that simplifies storage management for distributed applications.

NFS snapshots are read-only and intended for file recovery within the same share. Each snapshot is stored in a hidden `.snapshot` directory at the root of the share, and you restore files by copying them back to the live filesystem.

## Access Snapshots

Snapshots are stored in a special hidden, read-only `.snapshot` directory at the root of the share. Each snapshot is a separate subdirectory of `.snapshot`, named with the snapshot name followed by the snapshot ID.

**Note**: You cannot find the `.snapshot` directory using `ls` on your mount point, even if you use the `-a` option to show hidden files. The NFS server takes extra steps to hide `.snapshot` from `ls`, `du`, and other commands.

To list out the contents of your snapshot directory, use the following command:

```shell
ls -l /mnt/example-nfs-share/.snapshot
```

Replace `/mnt/example-nfs-share/` with your mount point.

## Restore Files From a Snapshot

To restore files from a snapshot, navigate to the snapshot directory and copy the desired files or directories back to the live filesystem using standard tools like `cp` or `rsync`.

To copy a single file from a snapshot back to the share:

```shell
cp /mnt/example-nfs-share/.snapshot/<snapshot_name>/<file_path> /mnt/example-nfs-share/<file_path>
```

Replace `<snapshot_name>` with the snapshot directory name, and `<file_path>` with the path to the file you want to restore.

To restore an entire directory, use `rsync`:

```shell
rsync -av /mnt/example-nfs-share/.snapshot/<snapshot_name>/<directory>/ /mnt/example-nfs-share/<directory>/
```

Replace `<directory>` with the directory path you want to restore. The trailing slashes ensure `rsync` copies the directory contents rather than creating a nested directory.