---
title: Capture a snapshot of a managed folder
type: how-to
section: drive
summary: A snapshot records which revision of every page a folder held at one moment. Capture it from the settings menu; it is a record, not a restore point.
sources:
  - evolve-front-end/components/content-platform/content-platform-workspaces-panel.tsx
  - evolve-content-workspace/src/domain/workspace-service.ts
  - evolve-content-workspace/src/api/router.ts
  - evolve-front-end/app/i18n/locales/en/content-platform.json
verified:
  at: 2026-09-04
  env: code
  by: content-lane-drive
ttl_days: 45
related: [drive/managed-folder-settings, drive/create-a-managed-folder, drive/my-tasks]
---

Open the managed folder, choose the settings button, then **Snapshot**. Give the snapshot a label and choose **Capture snapshot**. Drive records which revision of every page the folder held at that moment and lists it on the **Snapshots** tab.

## Capture one

1. Open the managed folder.
2. Choose the settings button next to **Invite**. Its label reads **Folder settings**.
3. Choose **Snapshot**. The dialog title is **Capture snapshot**, with the line **Snapshots freeze the managed-folder state for review or publishing hand-off.**
4. Edit **Label** if you want. It arrives filled with the folder name and the current date and time in UTC.
5. Add **Notes (optional)**. The field asks **What's in this snapshot?**
6. Choose **Capture snapshot**. The button reads **Capturing…** until it is done, then Drive moves you to the **Snapshots** tab.

An empty **Snapshots** tab offers **Create snapshot** as a shortcut to the same dialog.

## What a snapshot records

A snapshot is a manifest of pointers, not a copy of your files. It records the folder, the identity of every page in it, which revision of each page was current, the active bindings and branch heads, and the registry revisions those pages referenced. Drive hashes that manifest, and the hash is what the **Snapshots** tab shows under **Manifest**.

Because it stores pointers, a snapshot stays small however large the folder is, and it does not protect a file whose content is later replaced or deleted.

## Reading the Snapshots tab

The table lists **Snapshot** (the label), **Description** (your notes, or **Managed folder snapshot** when you left them empty), **Created**, and **Manifest** (the short hash). Rows have no actions.

Publishing also captures a snapshot on its own when a page is promoted, so the list can hold entries you did not create.

## Snapshots do not restore

There is no restore action. Drive can create a snapshot and read one back, and nothing more. The empty state on the tab says snapshots "can be restored later"; the product does not offer that today, so treat a snapshot as evidence of what the folder held, not as a way to undo a change.

## If it did not work

- **Capture snapshot** stays disabled until **Label** has text in it.
- **Failed to capture snapshot.** points at the service. Try again; capturing twice in the same second is treated as one request, so a repeat is safe.
- Capturing a snapshot needs write access to the folder. If it keeps failing and you hold **Can view**, ask the folder's owner.
- To keep a copy of the files themselves, download them. A snapshot will not bring back deleted content.