Important
The feature described on this page is not currently supported on Atlas Infinite clusters during public preview. For the features supported in public preview, see Public Preview Availability.
By default, Atlas Cloud Backup stores snapshots in the same cloud provider region as the cluster's current primary node. You can configure Atlas to store copies of your snapshots in additional regions by defining a snapshot copy policy for your cluster.
A snapshot copy policy includes one or more policy items. Each item defines the following for a specified cloud provider region:
Frequency for copying snapshots to that region
Retention time for snapshots copied at that frequency
Whether to copy oplogs to support point-in-time restore in that region
Snapshot copy policies can improve resiliency and restore speeds for your cluster. If your primary region goes down and your original snapshot becomes unavailable, Atlas can use copied snapshots in other regions to restore your cluster. Additionally, if you copy snapshots to every region in a multi-region cluster, Atlas can perform faster direct attach restores instead of slower streaming restores to restore your cluster after a regional outage.
If you enabled Continuous Cloud Backup for your cluster, you can also configure your snapshot copy policy to copy oplogs to your snapshot copy regions. Atlas can perform a PIT restore using a copied oplog in the event of a regional outage in your cloud provider.
Required Access
To modify or delete backup policies, you must have Project Backup Manager or Project Owner access to the project. Users with Organization Owner access must add themselves as a Project Backup Manager or Project Owner to the project before they can modify or delete backup policies.
Considerations
If you have a Backup Compliance Policy enabled with the Keep all snapshots when removing additional snapshot regions option set to On and you modify or delete a snapshot policy item, any existing snapshots are retained until their scheduled expiration date.
If you change your cluster's primary region to a secondary region that you currently have configured for snapshot copy distribution, Atlas automatically updates your backup policy to distribute snapshots copies from your new primary region to the original primary region (now a secondary region) and other secondary regions configured for snapshot distribution.
If you enable a peering connection and restrict certain regions for Google Cloud, you can copy snapshots to only those regions.
Oplog copy distribution is enabled at the copy region level. If you set Point-in-Time Restore to On for a snapshot copy policy item, Atlas copies oplogs to that copy region and enables point-in-time restores for all snapshot copy policies in that copy region.
Enable Snapshot Copy Distribution
To enable and configure snapshot copy distribution from your primary region to other regions using the Atlas UI:
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 details display.
Click the cluster link.
(Optional) Automatically copy snapshots to all secondary regions.
To copy snapshots to all secondary regions in a multi-region cluster, toggle Automatically Sync Copy Regions with Cluster Regions to On.
When you enable Automatically Sync Copy Regions with Cluster Regions, Atlas configures snapshot copy policy items for each secondary region in your cluster and keeps the policy in sync with the cluster configuration as you add or remove secondary regions. Atlas creates each snapshot copy policy item with the same frequency and retention times as the backup policy items defined for the cluster.
You can customize the frequency and retention times for the automatic snapshot copies in the following steps, but you cannot add or remove regions unless you disable this setting.
Choose the region(s) to distribute snapshot copies to.
In the Region column of the snapshot copy policy table, select a region from the Choose a region dropdown.
To add another region, click Add Another Region and Frequency.
Note
You must select copy regions from within the same cloud provider as the primary region of your cluster. For example, if your cluster's highest priority region is set to the AWS region us-east-1, you can only distribute snapshot copies to other AWS regions supported by Atlas.
If you have a global cluster, each zone has its own primary region. You must select copy regions within the same cloud provider as the primary region for each zone.
Note
If Automatically Sync Copy Regions with Cluster Regions is set to On, you can't add or delete copy regions, but you can modify the frequency and retention times for the snapshot copy policy items that Atlas automatically configures for each secondary region in your cluster.
Configure snapshot copy frequency.
In the Snapshots column for each region that you added, select the frequency for copying snapshots to that region.
You can select from the following frequency options:
Last number of snapshots: Copies a specific number of the most recent snapshots to the copy region, deleting older snapshots as new snapshots are copied. If you select this option, you can't select any other frequency options for that region.
For example, specifying Last
5Snapshots copies the five most recent snapshots taken on the source region, and maintains that number of copies for as long as the copy policy item is active.Backup Policy Frequency: Copies snapshots taken according to the backup policy item(s) defined for your cluster. Possible values include
Hourly,Daily,Weekly,Monthly, orYearly.The available frequencies correspond to the frequencies of the backup policy items defined for your cluster. For example, if your backup policy specifies only weekly and monthly snapshots, then you can select either
WeeklyorMonthlyas the snapshot copy frequency to copy those respective snapshots to the copy region.Atlas copies snapshots taken for all backup policy items with the specified frequency. For example, if your backup policy takes two weekly snapshots, then a
Weeklysnapshot copy policy item copies both weekly snapshots.To select more than one frequency option for the same copy region, click Add Another Region and Frequency and choose the same region in the new row.
Note
If overlapping policy items generate the same snapshot, Atlas associates the snapshot with the policy item with the longest retention time.
For example, if the policy specifies a daily snapshot with two-day retention and a weekly snapshot every Saturday with three-week retention, then Atlas displays a frequency of Weekly in the Frequency column on the Snapshots page for the snapshot taken on Saturday and retains the snapshot for three weeks. This is because the weekly policy item has a longer retention time than the daily policy item.
On Demand: Copies on-demand snapshots taken for the cluster.
Configure retention time.
In the Retention Time column for each row that you added, select the retention time for snapshots copied to that region and frequency. The retention time cannot exceed the retention time set
You can choose from the following units of time for retention:
Hours
Days
Weeks
Months
(Optional) Enable point-in-time restores.
In the Point-in-Time Restore column for each row that you added, set the toggle to On to enable oplog copy distribution to that region. This enables PIT restores for all snapshot copies in that region.
This is only available if you enabled Continuous Cloud Backup for your cluster.
To enable and configure snapshot copy distribution from your primary region to other regions using the Atlas Administration API:
Get the cluster's current Cloud Backup schedule.
Use the Get Cloud Backup Schedule for One Cluster endpoint to retrieve the current Cloud Backup schedule for the cluster. The copySettings field in the response body contains the current snapshot copy policy.
Copy the entire response to modify in the next step.
Important
If the copyPolicyItemsEnabled value in the response is false, set it to true to configure snapshot copy policy items using the copyPolicyItems attribute in the next step. To do this:
Copy and modify the response to set
copyPolicyItemsEnabledtotrue.Make a
PATCHrequest to the same endpoint with the modified payload.
The copyPolicyItems attribute replaces the deprecated frequencies attribute and allows you to define snapshot copy policy items with custom retention values. If you keep copyPolicyItemsEnabled set to false, you must use the deprecated frequencies attribute to specify which snapshots to copy. These copies are automatically retained for the same retention period as the source snapshots.
(Optional) Automatically copy snapshots to all secondary regions.
To distribute snapshot copies to all secondary regions in a multi-region cluster, set the autoCopySettingsEnabled field to true and send the modified payload to the Update Cloud Backup Schedule for One Cluster endpoint to update the snapshot copy policy.
When you set autoCopySettingsEnabled to true, Atlas configures snapshot copy policy items for each secondary region in your cluster and keeps the policy in sync with the cluster configuration as you add or remove secondary regions. Atlas creates each snapshot copy policy item with the same frequency and retention times as the backup policy items defined for the cluster.
To customize the frequency and retention times for the automatic snapshot copies, copy the response from this step to modify in the next step. If the automatic snapshot copy policy meets your needs, you can end the procedure here.
Modify the payload to add snapshot copy policy items.
Modify the response from the last step to update the copySettings array with your desired snapshot copy policy items.
Each item in the copySettings array represents the active snapshot copy policy items for a specified region in a zone. For an example snapshot copy policy configuration, see Update Cloud Backup Schedule for One Cluster.
Note
You must select copy regions from within the same cloud provider as the primary region of your cluster. For example, if your cluster's highest priority region is set to the AWS region us-east-1, you can only distribute snapshot copies to other AWS regions supported by Atlas.
If you have a global cluster, each zone has its own primary region. You must select copy regions within the same cloud provider as the primary region for each zone.
Note
If the autoCopySettingsEnabled field is set to true, you can't add or delete copy regions, but you can modify the frequency and retention times for the snapshot copy policy items that Atlas automatically configures for each secondary region in your cluster.
Update the snapshot copy policy.
Make a request to the Update Cloud Backup Schedule for One Cluster endpoint with the modified payload to update the snapshot copy policy.
Update Snapshot Copy Policy
To update the snapshot copy policy for your cluster using the Atlas UI:
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 details display.
Click the cluster link.
(Optional) Enable or disable automatic copy distribution to secondary regions.
Toggle Automatically Sync Copy Regions with Cluster Regions to On or Off to enable or disable automatic distribution of snapshot copies to all secondary regions in a multi-region cluster.
When you enable Automatically Sync Copy Regions with Cluster Regions, Atlas configures snapshot copy policy items for each secondary region in your cluster and keeps the policy in sync with the cluster configuration as you add or remove secondary regions. Atlas creates each snapshot copy policy item with the same frequency and retention times as the backup policy items defined for the cluster.
Important
When you enable Automatically Sync Copy Regions with Cluster Regions, Atlas overwrites any existing snapshot copy policy items you have configured.
Add or update snapshot copies policy items.
Make your changes to the snapshot copy policy items in the table.
To add a new snapshot copies policy item, click Add Another Region and Frequency and configure the new item in the new row.
Note
If Automatically Sync Copy Regions with Cluster Regions is set to On, you can't add or delete copy regions, but you can modify the frequency and retention times for the snapshot copy policy items that Atlas automatically configures for each secondary region in your cluster.
Click Review Changes.
A dialog box appears, summarizing your new snapshot copies policy configuration. If you made changes, you can select checkboxes for the following options to apply your changes to existing snapshots in the copy regions:
Update retention time of existing snapshot copies
Delete all snapshots from removed policies
Note
Updates made with this method only apply to snapshot copies created after February 11, 2026. To update snapshot copies created before this date, you must use the updateSnapshots option in a PATCH request to the Atlas Administration API /backup/schedule endpoint.
To update the snapshot copy policy for your cluster using the Atlas Administration API:
Get the cluster's current Cloud Backup schedule.
Use the Get Cloud Backup Schedule for One Cluster endpoint to retrieve the current Cloud Backup schedule for the cluster. The copySettings field in the response body contains the current snapshot copy p olicy.
Copy the entire response to modify in the next step.
Important
If the copyPolicyItemsEnabled value in the response is false, set it to true to configure snapshot copy policy items using the copyPolicyItems attribute in the next step. To do this:
Copy and modify the response to set
copyPolicyItemsEnabledtotrue.Make a
PATCHrequest to the same endpoint with the modified payload.
The copyPolicyItems attribute replaces the deprecated frequencies attribute and allows you to define snapshot copy policy items with custom retention values. If you keep copyPolicyItemsEnabled set to false, you must use the deprecated frequencies attribute to specify which snapshots to copy. These copies are automatically retained for the same retention period as the source snapshots.
(Optional) Enable or disable automatic copy distribution to secondary regions.
Set the autoCopySettingsEnabled field to true or false and send the modified payload to the Update Cloud
Backup Schedule for One Cluster endpoint to enable or disable automatic distribution of snapshot copies to all secondary regions in a multi-region cluster.
When you set autoCopySettingsEnabled to true, Atlas configures snapshot copy policy items for each secondary region in your cluster and keeps the policy in sync with the cluster configuration as you add or remove secondary regions. Atlas creates each snapshot copy policy item with the same frequency and retention times as the backup policy items defined for the cluster.
To customize the frequency and retention times for the automatic snapshot copies, copy the response from this step to modify in the next step. If the automatic snapshot copy policy meets your needs, you can end the procedure here.
Important
When you set the autoCopySettingsEnabled field to true, Atlas overwrites any existing snapshot copy policy items you have configured.
Modify the payload to add or update snapshot copy policy items.
Modify the response from the last step to update the copySettings array with your desired snapshot copy policy items.
Each item in the copySettings array represents the active snapshot copy policy items for a specified region in a zone. For an example snapshot copy policy configuration, see Update Cloud Backup Schedule for One Cluster.
Note
If the autoCopySettingsEnabled field is set to true, you can't add or delete copy regions, but you can modify the frequency and retention times for the snapshot copy policy items that Atlas automatically configures for each secondary region in your cluster.
(Optional) Apply your changes to existing snapshot copies.
You can pass the following parameters into the modified payload to apply your updated snapshot copy policy to existing snapshot copies:
updateCopySnapshots: Pass in this parameter with a value oftrueto update the retention time of existing snapshot copies to match the new retention time set for the corresponding snapshot policy item.deleteCopySnapshots: Pass in this parameter with a value oftrueto delete all snapshots from removed policies.
Note
Updates made with this method only apply to snapshot copies created after February 11, 2026. To update snapshot copies created before this date, you must use the updateSnapshots option in a PATCH request to the Atlas Administration API /backup/schedule endpoint.
Update the snapshot copy policy.
Make a request to the Update Cloud Backup Schedule for One Cluster endpoint with the modified payload to update the snapshot copy policy.
Disable Snapshot Copy Distribution
To disable snapshot copy distribution or delete snapshot copy policy items in the Atlas UI:
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 details display.
Click the cluster link.
Disable snapshot copy distribution.
To disable all snapshot copy distribution for the cluster, toggle Copy to other regions to Off.
If you want to disable only specific snapshot copy policy items, click in the Action column for the region and frequency you want to stop copying snapshots for.
Note
For a global cluster, you can enable or disable the Copy to other regions setting independently for each zone.
Note
You must set Automatically Sync Copy Regions with Cluster Regions to Off to be able to add or delete copy regions. When this setting is on, Atlas automatically configures snapshot copy policy items for each secondary region in your cluster and keeps the policy in sync with the cluster configuration as you add or remove secondary regions.
Click Review Changes.
A dialog box appears summarizing your new snapshot copy policy configuration. If you disabled snapshot copy distribution or deleted any snapshot copy policy items, you can select from the following options to apply your changes to existing snapshots in the copy regions:
Update retention time of existing snapshot copies
Delete all snapshots from removed policies
Note
Updates made with this method only apply to snapshot copies created after February 11, 2026. To delete snapshot copies created before this date, you must use the deleteCopiedBackups option in a PATCH request to the Atlas Administration API /backup/schedule endpoint. Alternatively, you can delete the original snapshots associated with the snapshot copies to delete the copies.
To disable snapshot copy distribution or delete snapshot copy policy items using the Atlas Administration API:
Get the cluster's current Cloud Backup schedule.
Use the Get Cloud Backup Schedule for One Cluster endpoint to retrieve the current Cloud Backup schedule for the cluster. The copySettings field in the response body contains the current snapshot copy policy.
Copy the entire response to modify in the next step.
Important
If the copyPolicyItemsEnabled value in the response is false, set it to true to configure snapshot copy policy items using the copyPolicyItems attribute in the next step. To do this:
Copy and modify the response to set
copyPolicyItemsEnabledtotrue.Make a
PATCHrequest to the same endpoint with the modified payload.
The copyPolicyItems attribute replaces the deprecated frequencies attribute and allows you to define snapshot copy policy items with custom retention values. If you keep copyPolicyItemsEnabled set to false, you must use the deprecated frequencies attribute to specify which snapshots to copy. These copies are automatically retained for the same retention period as the source snapshots.
Remove the copy policy item(s).
Modify the response from the previous step to remove the copy policy item(s) that you want to disable from the copySettings array.
To disable all snapshot copy distribution, replace the copySettings array with an empty array.
Note
You must set the autoCopySettingsEnabled field to false to be able to add or delete copy regions. When autoCopySettingsEnabled is true, Atlas automatically configures snapshot copy policy items for each secondary region in your cluster and keeps the policy in sync with the cluster configuration as you add or remove secondary regions.
(Optional) Delete existing snapshot copies.
To delete all copy snapshots associated with removed policies, pass in the deleteCopySnapshots parameter with a value of true in the modified payload.
Note
Updates made with this method only apply to snapshot copies created after February 11, 2026. To delete snapshot copies created before this date, you must use the deleteCopiedBackups option in a PATCH request to the Atlas Administration API /backup/schedule endpoint. Alternatively, you can delete the original snapshots associated with the snapshot copies to delete the copies.
Update the snapshot copy policy.
Make a request to the Update Cloud Backup Schedule for One Cluster endpoint with the modified payload to update the snapshot copy policy.
Example Snapshot Copy Policy
This example snapshot copy policy distributes copies of snapshots taken for the following backup policy:
Backup Policy:
This example backup policy takes hourly, daily, and weekly snapshots and stores them in the same region as the cluster's primary node.
Frequency Unit | Every | Retention Time | Snapshot Time |
|---|---|---|---|
Hourly Snapshot | 6 hours | 2 days | 18:30 UTC |
Daily Snapshot | N/A | 7 days | 18:30 UTC |
Weekly Snapshot | Monday | 4 weeks | 18:30 UTC |
Weekly Snapshot | Friday | 4 weeks | 18:30 UTC |
Snapshot Copy Policy:
This snapshot copy policy copies daily and hourly snapshots to the AWS region us-east-2 (Ohio), and copies all weekly snapshots to us-west-1 (N. California). It retains each snapshot copy in the copy regions for the specified retention time, and copies oplogs to the us-east-2 region to enable PIT restores.
Region | Snapshots | Retention Time | Point in Time Restore |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hourly | 12 hours | Enabled |
| Daily | 7 days | Enabled |
| Weekly | 7 days | Disabled |