> For the complete MongoDB documentation index, see www.mongodb.com/docs/llms.txt

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# Flex Cluster Backups

**Note:**

This page applies to both Atlas Infinite and Atlas Core.

Atlas takes daily snapshots of Flex clusters. Atlas takes these snapshots automatically starting 24 hours after you create your cluster.

Atlas always takes Flex clusters snapshots from a [secondary](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/manual/reference/glossary.md#std-term-secondary) node to minimize performance impact.

Atlas retains the last 8 daily snapshots, which you can [download or restore to an Atlas cluster.](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/atlas/backup/cloud-backup/restore-from-snapshot.md#std-label-restore-from-snapshot)

## Required Access

To manage backups for a Flex cluster, you must have [`Project Owner`](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/atlas/reference/user-roles.md#mongodb-authrole-Project-Owner) access to the project. Users with [`Organization Owner`](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/atlas/reference/user-roles.md#mongodb-authrole-Organization-Owner) access must add themselves as a `Project Owner` to the project before they can manage backups.

## Limitations

- Custom policies are not supported for Flex cluster snapshots. Atlas always takes a single daily snapshot at the same time, starting 24 hours after the cluster was created.

  If you require finer-grained backups, consider scaling up to an `M10` or larger cluster tier.

- On-demand snapshots are not supported for Flex clusters.

- You can't restore Flex cluster snapshots to a sharded cluster. You can only restore Flex cluster snapshots to replica sets.

## Backup Snapshot Storage Locations

The following table indicates where Atlas stores Flex cluster snapshots:

| Cluster Location | Snapshot Storage Location |
| --- | --- |
| Australia | Australia |
| Germany | Germany |
| Hong Kong | Australia |
| India, Singapore, Taiwan | Asia |
| USA | USA |
| All other cluster locations | Ireland |

## View Flex Cluster Backup Snapshots

### Atlas UI

Atlas displays existing snapshots for a given cluster on the Snapshots page. To view snapshots that Atlas has already taken:

1. In Atlas, go to the Backup details for your project.

   If it's not already displayed, select the organization that contains your project from the  Organizations menu in the navigation bar.

   If it's not already displayed, select your project from the Projects menu in the navigation bar.

   In the sidebar, click Backup under the Database heading.

   The [Backup](https://cloud.mongodb.com/go?l=https%3A%2F%2Fcloud.mongodb.com%2Fv2%2F%3Cproject%3E%23%2Fsecurity%2Fbackup%2Fclusters) details display.

   Click the cluster link.

2. Click Snapshots.

Alternatively, to view a list of all `M10+` clusters with cloud backup enabled:

1. In Atlas, go to the Backup details for your project.

   If it's not already displayed, select the organization that contains your project from the  Organizations menu in the navigation bar.

   If it's not already displayed, select your project from the Projects menu in the navigation bar.

   In the sidebar, click Backup under the Database heading.

   The [Backup](https://cloud.mongodb.com/go?l=https%3A%2F%2Fcloud.mongodb.com%2Fv2%2F%3Cproject%3E%23%2Fsecurity%2Fbackup%2Fclusters) details display.

   Click the cluster link.

2. View the list of clusters.

   If you choose to retain backups from a cluster you terminate, they remain accessible here under their source cluster name until they expire or you delete them.

Additionally, Atlas displays existing Flex cluster snapshots in the All Daily Snapshots table. From this table, you can [restore](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/atlas/backup/cloud-backup/restore-from-snapshot.md#std-label-restore-from-snapshot) or [download](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/atlas/backup/cloud-backup/restore-from-local-file.md#std-label-restore-from-local-file) your existing snapshots.

**Note:**

The Atlas CLI does not support Flex cluster backup snapshots.