---
title: "Back up an SFS"
description: "Turn on continuous, file-level backup for an SFS to protect its files."
content_type: "how-to"
product: "sfs"
platform: "MyAccount"
url: "/myaccount/sfs/how-to/back-up-an-sfs/"
topic: ["backup-and-recovery"]
relationships: {"requires":["/myaccount/sfs/how-to/create-an-sfs/"]}
---

# Back up an SFS

Backup keeps recovery points of the SFS's files, so you can bring back a single file or folder
from an earlier time. It runs on its own once you turn it on.

## Before you begin

Backup runs on an SFS in the Default VPC. For an SFS in a Custom VPC, see
[Troubleshooting SFS](/myaccount/sfs/troubleshooting/sfs/#backup-is-not-available-for-my-sfs).

## Turn on backup

1. In **Scalable File System**, open the SFS's **Actions** menu and click **Activate Backup**.
2. Leave **Backup Now** checked to take the first backup straight away.
3. Click **Activate**.

You can also turn backup on from **Activate** in the SFS's **Backup** column in the list. The link in the message on the SFS's **Backup** tab works too. Both open the same dialog.

The first backup shows as **First Run Pending** until it completes. After that, backup runs
every six hours, at 12 AM, 6 AM, 12 PM, and 6 PM IST, each a few minutes past the hour.

## How long recovery points are kept

Backup keeps:

- the last 12 backups, which cover two days
- the last backup of each of the past 14 days
- the last Saturday backup of each of the past four weeks
- the last backup of the last day of each of the past two months

To keep a recovery point longer than that, lock it; see
[Restore from an SFS backup](/myaccount/sfs/how-to/restore-from-an-sfs-backup/).

## See your backups

Open the SFS's **Backup** tab. It has four tabs:

- **Details**: the backup's settings and statistics.
- **Backup Restore**: browse and restore a recovery point.
- **Backup History**: every backup run.
- **Backup Restore History**: every restore.

## Turn off backup

Turning backup off deletes the SFS's existing backups for good. To keep any files from them,
restore those files first.

1. Open the SFS's **Actions** menu and click **Deactivate Backup**.
2. Click **Deactivate**.

To bring back a file from a recovery point, see
[Restore from an SFS backup](/myaccount/sfs/how-to/restore-from-an-sfs-backup/). For help turning backup on, see
[Troubleshooting SFS](/myaccount/sfs/troubleshooting/sfs/#backup-is-not-available-for-my-sfs).