---
title: "Restore from an SFS backup"
description: "Browse an SFS backup recovery point and restore the files and folders you need."
content_type: "how-to"
product: "sfs"
platform: "MyAccount"
url: "/myaccount/sfs/how-to/restore-from-an-sfs-backup/"
topic: ["backup-and-recovery"]
relationships: {"requires":["/myaccount/sfs/how-to/back-up-an-sfs/"]}
---

# Restore from an SFS backup

A restore brings back files and folders from one of the SFS's recovery points. You can recover
a single file and leave the rest of the SFS as it is.

## Before you begin

Backup must be on for the SFS, with at least one recovery point; see [Back up an
SFS](/myaccount/sfs/how-to/back-up-an-sfs/).

## Pick the files

1. Open the SFS and go to its **Backup** tab, then to **Backup Restore**. Pick the recovery point
   from the time you want to go back to.
2. Open the recovery point's **Action** menu and click **Browse**.
3. Find the files and folders you need. To jump to a folder, type its path in **Location** and
   click **Go**.
4. Select them and click **Restore Selected**.

## Choose where they go

A restore writes the files into the location you choose, replacing any files there with the
same name. To keep the current files as they are, restore to a different folder.

1. Under **Location**, choose **Default** to restore into `/data`, the top of the SFS, or
   **Alternate** to type a path of your own under `/data/`.
2. Click **Restore**.
3. Check the location the dialog shows, and click **Confirm Restore**.

You can follow the restore on the **Backup Restore History** tab. Once it completes, the files are
in the location you chose.

## Lock a recovery point

To keep a recovery point longer than it would normally be kept, lock it. Open its **Action** menu on the
**Backup Restore** tab, click **Lock**, then click **Lock** again to confirm. Backup's automatic
clean-up then leaves it in place. To release it later, click **Unlock** in the same menu, then **Unlock** again to confirm.

To turn backup on or off, see [Back up an SFS](/myaccount/sfs/how-to/back-up-an-sfs/).