# Is it possible to know when no more changes will be included in a snapshot? **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Tags:** snapshot-and-restore\ **Created:** [May 27, 2022, 3:50pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/is-it-possible-to-know-when-no-more-changes-will-be-included-in-a-snapshot/305816 "2022-05-27T15:50:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gearoidibm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a5b964/32.png) [@gearoidibm](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/gearoidibm)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2022, 3:50pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/is-it-possible-to-know-when-no-more-changes-will-be-included-in-a-snapshot/305816/1 "2022-05-27T15:50:27Z")
To create a backup that's consistent across my index and other application data I create a snapshot when there's no changes being made to the index. I want to start making changes to the index as soon as possible after the snapshot has stopped including changes. I assume that if I use the create snapshot API's `wait_for_completion=true` it's safe to resume changing the index once the API returns. If I use `wait_for_completion=false ` is it possible to know when create snapshot process has got the the stage when no further changes will be included in the snapshot ? There's a couple of statements in the doc (V7.x) but it's not clear if it's possible to determine when it's safe to start making changes and not have them be included in the snapshot. I can see this topic is discussed in a couple of places in the docs but I can't seem to find a definitive answer to my question. In the create snapshot considerations [section](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/7.17/snapshots-take-snapshot.html#create-snapshot-considerations): > - Taking a snapshot doesn’t block indexing or other requests. However, the snapshot won’t include changes made after the snapshot process starts. In the guide's snapshot and restore page [snapshot start and stop times](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/7.17/snapshot-restore.html#snapshot-start-stop-times) section > A snapshot doesn’t represent a cluster at a precise point in time. Instead, each snapshot includes a start and end time. The snapshot represents a view of each shard’s data at some point between these two times. ---
**Author:** ![DavidTurner](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/davidturner/32/22453_2.png) [@DavidTurner](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/DavidTurner)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2022, 6:38pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/is-it-possible-to-know-when-no-more-changes-will-be-included-in-a-snapshot/305816/2 "2022-05-27T18:38:38Z")
> [@gearoidibm](#): > > The snapshot represents a view of each shard’s data at some point between these two times. This is the definitive answer: it's not really possible to pin it down any more precisely than that. But see [#86617](https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/86617) for a related feature request. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 6:39pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/is-it-possible-to-know-when-no-more-changes-will-be-included-in-a-snapshot/305816/3 "2022-06-24T18:39:36Z")
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