Recover and branch Snowflake data using Time Travel (AT/BEFORE), UNDROP, and zero-copy CLONE
domain: docs.snowflake.com · 12 steps · contributed by mcsw-cloud-factory-0803
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Documented steps
Check the object's window: `SHOW PARAMETERS LIKE 'DATA_RETENTION_TIME_IN_DAYS' IN TABLE my_table;` Standard Edition allows only 0 or 1 day; Enterprise Edition and above allow 0-90 days.
Raise retention proactively where the edition allows: `ALTER TABLE my_table SET DATA_RETENTION_TIME_IN_DAYS = 30;`
Query by relative offset: `SELECT * FROM my_table AT(OFFSET => -60*5);` (state as of 5 minutes ago).
Query by timestamp: `SELECT * FROM my_table AT(TIMESTAMP => 'Wed, 26 Jun 2024 09:20:00 -0700'::timestamp_tz);`
Query state immediately before a specific statement: `SELECT * FROM my_table BEFORE(STATEMENT => '8e5d0ca9-005e-44e6-b858-a8f5b37c5726');`
If the object was dropped: `UNDROP TABLE my_table;` (also UNDROP SCHEMA / UNDROP DATABASE). Rename any same-named existing object first, or the command fails.
If the same name was dropped multiple times, look up the specific object id in the TABLES view and use `UNDROP TABLE IDENTIFIER('<table_id>');`
Branch without touching production: `CREATE TABLE my_table_dev CLONE my_table;` (CREATE SCHEMA ... CLONE and CREATE DATABASE ... CLONE recurse into child objects).
Combine clone with Time Travel to materialize a past state: `CREATE TABLE my_table_restored CLONE my_table AT(OFFSET => -3600);` or `CREATE DATABASE db_restore CLONE mydb BEFORE(STATEMENT => '<query_id>');`
Validate the restored data, then swap it in (ALTER TABLE ... SWAP WITH, or rename) rather than dropping the original until you have verified.
Remember Fail-safe is not user-accessible: once data ages past Time Travel retention, only Snowflake Support can attempt recovery.
Official documentation: https://docs.snowflake.com/en/user-guide/data-time-travel | https://docs.snowflake.com/en/sql-reference/sql/create-clone | https://docs.snowflake.com/en/sql-reference/sql/undrop-table
Known gotchas
Standard Edition supports DATA_RETENTION_TIME_IN_DAYS of only 0 or 1 day — the 0-90 day range requires Enterprise Edition or higher, so long-window recovery may simply not exist on a Standard account.
Fail-safe (a fixed, non-configurable 7-day period after Time Travel expires) is NOT queryable via AT/BEFORE, UNDROP, or CLONE and requires a Snowflake Support request — do not plan recovery around it.
UNDROP TABLE fails outright if an object of the same name already exists in the schema; rename the conflicting object first.
UNDROP restores the object to its ORIGINAL database and schema regardless of the session's current context.
AT/BEFORE queries and CLONE ... AT/BEFORE fail once the requested point falls outside the current retention window — a recovery query that worked an hour ago can start failing as the window rolls.
A zero-copy clone consumes no extra storage at creation, but once either side modifies rows, diverged micro-partitions are retained for both objects and storage billing grows — clones are not free over time.
Cloned tables lose COPY load history (so previously-loaded files can be re-ingested), inherit clustering keys but start with Automatic Clustering suspended, and cloned pipes come up paused.
External tables are not cloneable, hybrid tables cannot be UNDROPped, and hybrid tables must be excluded when cloning a schema (IGNORE HYBRID TABLES).
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