Guide · Snapshots
Airtable snapshots: what they save, and when they're not enough
Every Airtable base already has snapshots: full copies Airtable takes in the background. They're the best way to get a whole base back to how it was. Here's how they work, and the gaps worth knowing about before you need one.
Last updated October 15, 2026
What a snapshot is
A snapshot is a copy of a whole base at a moment in time: its tables, records, views, comments and interfaces. Airtable takes them automatically “based on usage”, so a base that changes every day gets at least one a day, and a quiet base gets fewer. Editors and creators can also take one by hand.
How long they're kept
| Airtable plan | Snapshot history |
|---|---|
| Free | 2 weeks |
| Team | 1 year |
| Business | 2 years |
| Enterprise Scale | 3 years |
| Nonprofit, Education, Student | 1 year |
Airtable warns that changing plans often can make snapshots expire early, and that attachments in a restored snapshot may be missing.
How to take a snapshot
- Open the base and click the base history icon, next to Share at the top right.
- Open Snapshots and choose Take a snapshot.
Do this before anything risky: a big import, a bulk update, an automation you just wrote, or handing a base to a client. After one manual snapshot there's a cooldown of a few hours before the next.
How to restore one
- Click the base history icon and pick the snapshot from before the problem.
- Give the restored base a name and click Create.
- Airtable builds a new base with a new base ID. Record, table, view and interface IDs inside it are kept.
- Copy what you need from the restored base back into your live one, then archive the copy.
Restoring doesn't roll your base back in place, which is usually what you want: edits made since the snapshot stay safe. But anything that uses the old base ID, like API scripts and integrations, keeps pointing at the old base, and revision history doesn't come with the copy.
What snapshots can't do
- Run on your schedule. You can't say “a copy every morning at 6”, so you can't promise a client or an auditor that one exists.
- Leave Airtable. There's no download. If you lose access to the account, the workspace or the plan, the snapshots go with it.
- Tell you what changed. A snapshot is a full copy, not a comparison. To find which records disappeared you restore it and compare by hand.
- Warn you. Nothing tells you that 200 records vanished overnight. You find out when someone asks where they went, and on Free the snapshot from before might be gone after 2 weeks.
Snapshots plus an outside copy
Snapshots are the right tool for “put the whole base back”, and nothing outside Airtable can bring back views and interfaces the way they can. What they don't cover is a copy you own, on a schedule, that tells you when something's wrong. For that, keep a daily copy outside Airtable alongside them. Our guide to backing up Airtable compares every way to do it, free ones included, and the recovery guide covers the trash, snapshots and outside copies step by step.
Questions
How often does Airtable take snapshots?
Automatically, based on how much a base is used; a busy base gets at least one a day. You can also take one by hand, with a cooldown of a few hours between manual snapshots. You can't set a schedule.
How long does Airtable keep snapshots?
2 weeks on Free, 1 year on Team, 2 years on Business and 3 years on Enterprise Scale. Nonprofit, Education and Student plans get 1 year. Frequent plan changes can make snapshots expire early.
Does restoring a snapshot overwrite my base?
No. Restoring creates a new base with a new base ID. Your current base stays as it is, so you copy what you need from the restored one back into it.
Can I download an Airtable snapshot?
No. Snapshots live inside your Airtable account and can't be exported or downloaded. To keep a copy outside Airtable you need a CSV per table, an API export or a backup tool.
Sources, checked October 15, 2026: Airtable: taking and restoring base snapshots · Airtable: trash. Nightclerk is not affiliated with Airtable. Compare backup options.