# Daily Canister Snapshot

**URL:** <https://forum.dfinity.org/t/daily-canister-snapshot/63646>\
**Category:** Developers\
**Created:** [January 31, 2026, 1:42pm UTC](https://forum.dfinity.org/t/daily-canister-snapshot/63646 "2026-01-31T13:42:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![rbole](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.dfinity.org/rbole/32/1334_2.png) [@rbole](https://forum.dfinity.org/u/rbole)\
**Post date:** [January 31, 2026, 1:42pm UTC](https://forum.dfinity.org/t/daily-canister-snapshot/63646/1 "2026-01-31T13:42:19Z")

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Hi everyone,  
I’d like to ask what the recommended approach is for creating daily backups of a Motoko backend canister.

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**Author:** ![infu](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.dfinity.org/infu/32/11321_2.png) [@infu](https://forum.dfinity.org/u/infu)\
**Post date:** [February 2, 2026, 1:21am UTC](https://forum.dfinity.org/t/daily-canister-snapshot/63646/2 "2026-02-02T01:21:38Z")

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[[https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dfinity/portal/master/docs/references/\_attachments/ic.did](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dfinity/portal/master/docs/references/_attachments/ic.did)]

### Canister snapshots (backup and restore)

One of the major additions in late-2025 / early-2026 is support for **canister snapshots** , which allow canister controllers to take a snapshot of a stopped canister, download it, upload it elsewhere, and restore it to the same or another canister.  
The management canister (`aaaaa-aa`) exposes the following snapshot-related methods:

| Function | Purpose |
| --- | --- |
| `take_canister_snapshot` | Takes a snapshot of a stopped canister. Can optionally replace an existing snapshot and/or uninstall the canister’s code atomically. Returns a snapshot record (ID, timestamp, total size). |
| `list_canister_snapshots` | Lists all snapshots for a canister, including snapshot IDs, timestamps, and sizes. |
| `delete_canister_snapshot` | Deletes a snapshot by snapshot ID, freeing the associated storage. |
| `load_canister_snapshot` | Loads (restores) a snapshot onto a canister, replacing its current code and state. Since Dec 2025, snapshots can also be loaded onto a **different canister** for migration or cloning. |
| `read_canister_snapshot_metadata` | Reads structured metadata for a snapshot, including timestamp, memory sizes, globals, certified data, timers, and canister version. |
| `read_canister_snapshot_data` | Reads snapshot contents in chunks (Wasm module, Wasm memory, stable memory, or Wasm chunk store), enabling snapshot download. |
| `upload_canister_snapshot_metadata` | Uploads snapshot metadata to create a new snapshot record from external storage. |
| `upload_canister_snapshot_data` | Uploads snapshot data chunks (Wasm, memory, stable memory, chunk store) to complete a snapshot created via uploaded metadata. |