# How do I verify compression

**URL:** <https://kopia.discourse.group/t/how-do-i-verify-compression/516>\
**Category:** General\
**Created:** [July 8, 2021, 9:45pm UTC](https://kopia.discourse.group/t/how-do-i-verify-compression/516 "2021-07-08T21:45:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![bk55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@bk55](https://kopia.discourse.group/u/bk55)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 9:45pm UTC](https://kopia.discourse.group/t/how-do-i-verify-compression/516/1 "2021-07-08T21:45:32Z")

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I am new to Kopia and trying to understand the compression feature.  
I created a snapshot of a folder with default settings then changed the policy to use compression. Took the snapshot again but I don’t see any difference in the size.

Do I need to use cli to enable the compression?

 ![kopia](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/free1/uploads/kopia/original/1X/159cf2c701ceee8ace81eb19f65ccfbcf9ed9fc7.jpeg)

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**Author:** ![jkowalski](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/kopia.discourse.group/jkowalski/32/3_2.png) [@jkowalski](https://kopia.discourse.group/u/jkowalski)\
**Post date:** [July 9, 2021, 3:02am UTC](https://kopia.discourse.group/t/how-do-i-verify-compression/516/2 "2021-07-09T03:02:01Z")

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When you snapshot a folder again, it will be a no-op since none of the files has actually changed so Kopia will simply assume that previously uploaded files/objects are still good.

To test this, make 2 identical directories, enable compression on one of them and snapshot both.

Honestly, probably better to just enable compression beforehand and look at the size of the repository (`kopia content stats`) after creating a snapshot.

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**Author:** ![bk55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@bk55](https://kopia.discourse.group/u/bk55)\
**Post date:** [July 9, 2021, 3:58pm UTC](https://kopia.discourse.group/t/how-do-i-verify-compression/516/3 "2021-07-09T15:58:57Z")

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I created new repository and new snapshot of same folder with compression enabled. The content status shows total 2.3 GB vs 3.6 GB without compression.

Thanks for letting me know about the “kopia content status” command. I don’t see it when I use “kopia --help” though. is there a document somewhere with all the available cli commands?

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**Author:** ![jkowalski](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/kopia.discourse.group/jkowalski/32/3_2.png) [@jkowalski](https://kopia.discourse.group/u/jkowalski)\
**Post date:** [July 9, 2021, 4:12pm UTC](https://kopia.discourse.group/t/how-do-i-verify-compression/516/4 "2021-07-09T16:12:44Z")

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Kopia has tons of hidden commands used for debugging and troubleshooting, including some that can be outright dangerous if misused:

They are listed here:

> **[Advanced Commands](https://kopia.io/docs/reference/command-line/advanced/)**
>
> Fast And Secure Open Source Backup

or using

```auto
$ kopia --help-full

```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![bk55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@bk55](https://kopia.discourse.group/u/bk55)\
**Post date:** [July 9, 2021, 4:24pm UTC](https://kopia.discourse.group/t/how-do-i-verify-compression/516/5 "2021-07-09T16:24:03Z")

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Thanks! and I completely understand about executing commands without full understanding it.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![bk55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@bk55](https://kopia.discourse.group/u/bk55)\
**Post date:** [July 9, 2021, 6:20pm UTC](https://kopia.discourse.group/t/how-do-i-verify-compression/516/6 "2021-07-09T18:20:38Z")

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One more question, how do I run Kopia GUI as root in ubuntu so it can read all files?