> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.rigbox.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Troubleshoot storage and recovery

> Find where data was written before choosing a recovery action.

## Identify the data location

Connect through SSH and inspect the application's configured data path and mounts. Determine whether files were stored in a managed app release directory, the workspace root disk, or a separate volume.

| Symptom                                  | Check                                                                  |
| ---------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Files disappear after redeploy           | Application wrote mutable data beside source instead of its data mount |
| Database missing after re-image          | Database lived on the replaced root disk                               |
| Snapshot restore did not rewind database | Database resides on an attached volume, outside the snapshot           |
| Restored app cannot read data            | Mount path, ownership, configuration, or schema is incompatible        |
| Volume operation rejected                | Stop the workspace before changing the drive set                       |

## Recover carefully

Preserve the current disk and error evidence. Choose a retained app release for a code/configuration failure, a root-disk snapshot for a system filesystem failure, or an application backup for data loss. Check [recovery boundaries](/workspaces/recovery-limits) first.

A snapshot is not a backup of persistent volumes, and creating a new snapshot replaces the workspace's previous checkpoint. Do not create one reflexively when trying to recover the old one.

## Prevent recurrence

Store mutable files on a declared [persistent volume](/guides/persistent-volumes), configure an application-consistent backup, and test restoring it. Verify persistence by creating a record, redeploying, and reading the same record afterward.