# Failed to create a snapshot - status : fatal **URL:** \ **Category:** Support\ **Created:** [March 12, 2026, 9:03am UTC](https://kopia.discourse.group/t/failed-to-create-a-snapshot-status-fatal/8826 "2026-03-12T09:03:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Sam](https://kopia.discourse.group/u/Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 9:03am UTC](https://kopia.discourse.group/t/failed-to-create-a-snapshot-status-fatal/8826/1 "2026-03-12T09:03:00Z")
I have a strange behaviour with the following error when clicking the “snapshot now” button or at startup: ![kopiaAlert](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/free1/uploads/kopia/original/2X/5/5bb254bb44a35e662bd9871162918486a6655d67.png) But when looking at the details there is no error : `10:00:21.101 keeping 2024-06-29 09:00:00.010997 +0200 CEST retention: [monthly-22] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2024-07-31 11:00:01.141135 +0200 CEST retention: [monthly-21] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2024-08-31 18:00:02.05746 +0200 CEST retention: [monthly-20] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2024-09-30 19:00:00.961233 +0200 CEST retention: [monthly-19] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2024-10-31 18:00:12.004515 +0100 CET retention: [monthly-18] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2024-11-29 16:00:02.292509 +0100 CET retention: [monthly-17] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2024-12-27 10:00:00.024091 +0100 CET retention: [monthly-16,annual-3] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2025-01-31 17:00:00.600681 +0100 CET retention: [monthly-15] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2025-02-28 18:00:00.601867 +0100 CET retention: [monthly-14] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2025-03-31 17:00:01.149963 +0200 CEST retention: [monthly-13] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2025-04-30 17:00:00.637757 +0200 CEST retention: [monthly-12] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2025-05-31 18:00:01.191967 +0200 CEST retention: [monthly-11] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2025-06-30 18:00:00.659874 +0200 CEST retention: [monthly-10] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2025-07-25 17:00:01.324074 +0200 CEST retention: [monthly-9] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2025-08-23 14:00:00.395851 +0200 CEST retention: [monthly-8] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2025-09-30 17:00:00.022442 +0200 CEST retention: [monthly-7] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2025-10-31 12:00:01.036015 +0100 CET retention: [monthly-6] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2025-11-30 15:00:01.043452 +0100 CET retention: [monthly-5] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2025-12-24 16:00:01.060688 +0100 CET retention: [monthly-4,annual-2] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2026-01-30 17:00:00.655026 +0100 CET retention: [monthly-3] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2026-02-14 06:07:02.850175 +0100 CET retention: [weekly-4] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2026-02-22 23:00:01.347405 +0100 CET retention: [weekly-3] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2026-02-28 18:00:00.059013 +0100 CET retention: [weekly-2,monthly-2] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2026-03-10 14:23:56.668874 +0100 CET retention: [hourly-21] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2026-03-10 15:00:00.928961 +0100 CET retention: [hourly-20] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2026-03-10 16:00:00.423631 +0100 CET retention: [hourly-19] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2026-03-10 17:00:00.984121 +0100 CET retention: [hourly-18] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2026-03-10 18:00:00.900892 +0100 CET retention: [hourly-17,daily-3] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2026-03-11 07:16:45.789316 +0100 CET retention: [hourly-16] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2026-03-11 08:00:00.537036 +0100 CET retention: [hourly-15] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2026-03-11 09:00:00.635659 +0100 CET retention: [hourly-14] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2026-03-11 10:00:01.173028 +0100 CET retention: [hourly-13] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2026-03-11 11:00:01.003386 +0100 CET retention: [hourly-12] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2026-03-11 12:00:00.549766 +0100 CET retention: [hourly-11] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2026-03-11 13:00:00.586543 +0100 CET retention: [hourly-10] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2026-03-11 14:00:00.554779 +0100 CET retention: [hourly-9] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2026-03-11 15:00:00.806437 +0100 CET retention: [hourly-8] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2026-03-11 16:00:01.899233 +0100 CET retention: [hourly-7] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2026-03-11 17:00:00.517511 +0100 CET retention: [hourly-6] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2026-03-11 18:00:00.467842 +0100 CET retention: [hourly-5,daily-2] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 deleting 1773296648111957000` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2026-03-12 07:24:39.95222 +0100 CET retention: [latest-10] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2026-03-12 07:26:08.179764 +0100 CET retention: [latest-9] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2026-03-12 07:27:54.521816 +0100 CET retention: [latest-8] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2026-03-12 07:28:04.730131 +0100 CET retention: [latest-7] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2026-03-12 07:28:16.330303 +0100 CET retention: [latest-6,hourly-4] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2026-03-12 08:00:00.441132 +0100 CET retention: [latest-5,hourly-3] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2026-03-12 09:00:01.035606 +0100 CET retention: [latest-4,hourly-2] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2026-03-12 10:00:00.429858 +0100 CET retention: [latest-3] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2026-03-12 10:00:08.349233 +0100 CET retention: [latest-2] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 keeping 2026-03-12 10:00:17.241653 +0100 CET retention: [latest-1,hourly-1,daily-1,weekly-1,monthly-1,annual-1] pins: ` `10:00:21.101 created snapshot 9b6a38d9923f1aa9b279aa0f028c38c6` Is there another place/file to see the potential errors? ---
**Author:** ![budy](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/kopia.discourse.group/budy/32/38_2.png) [@budy](https://kopia.discourse.group/u/budy)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 2:52pm UTC](https://kopia.discourse.group/t/failed-to-create-a-snapshot-status-fatal/8826/2 "2026-03-12T14:52:33Z")
Open up KopiaUI and check the Tasks tab for that repo. The failed snapshot occurred at 07:28, but the log shows 10:00:21ff ---
**Author:** ![Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Sam](https://kopia.discourse.group/u/Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 8:03am UTC](https://kopia.discourse.group/t/failed-to-create-a-snapshot-status-fatal/8826/3 "2026-03-13T08:03:35Z")
Thanks for your help. So i should delete this snapshot ? ---
**Author:** ![Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Sam](https://kopia.discourse.group/u/Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 8:05am UTC](https://kopia.discourse.group/t/failed-to-create-a-snapshot-status-fatal/8826/4 "2026-03-13T08:05:54Z")
When i check all the tasks, the only errors is as follow: `09:03:05.198 snapshotted directory {“path”:“.”,“dur”:“3.850889834s”,“size”:528471857597,“files”:141059,“dirs”:8290,“errors”:1}` ---
**Author:** ![budy](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/kopia.discourse.group/budy/32/38_2.png) [@budy](https://kopia.discourse.group/u/budy)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2026, 9:08am UTC](https://kopia.discourse.group/t/failed-to-create-a-snapshot-status-fatal/8826/5 "2026-03-14T09:08:32Z")
If that is a re-occurring issue, I’d run Kopia with the log level set to debug. That should tell you what issue Kopia encountered. ---
**Author:** ![Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Sam](https://kopia.discourse.group/u/Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2026, 2:18pm UTC](https://kopia.discourse.group/t/failed-to-create-a-snapshot-status-fatal/8826/6 "2026-03-15T14:18:55Z")
Here the detailed log, not very much more helpfull: ``` Library: cannot create iterator: unable to read directory: open /Users/sam/Documents/Library: permission denied ``` I don’t know why this happen now as it was fine with the exact same param before… Should / How could I run KopiaUI with more privileges ? ---
**Author:** ![Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Sam](https://kopia.discourse.group/u/Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2026, 2:19pm UTC](https://kopia.discourse.group/t/failed-to-create-a-snapshot-status-fatal/8826/7 "2026-03-15T14:19:39Z")
And the KopiaUI interface do not provide with way to set the log level… or i missed it. ---
**Author:** ![budy](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/kopia.discourse.group/budy/32/38_2.png) [@budy](https://kopia.discourse.group/u/budy)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2026, 3:11pm UTC](https://kopia.discourse.group/t/failed-to-create-a-snapshot-status-fatal/8826/8 "2026-03-15T15:11:33Z")
Hm? It says “permission denied” so, at the time Kopia tried to access the folder Library in your documents folder… Looks like you’re running on a Mac… there is usually no Library-Folder in the Documents folder… I’d suggest to take a look at that and see, what the permissions on that folder are. ---
**Author:** ![Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Sam](https://kopia.discourse.group/u/Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2026, 3:29pm UTC](https://kopia.discourse.group/t/failed-to-create-a-snapshot-status-fatal/8826/9 "2026-03-15T15:29:59Z")
oh right ! I didn’t notice… that was it. Thanks a lot.