Does DynamoDB have backups?

Yes. DynamoDB has two built-in backup features: on-demand backups — full table snapshots kept until you delete them — and point-in-time recovery (PITR), continuous backups that can restore a table to any second within the last 1–35 days. Neither impacts table performance or consumes capacity.

On-demand backups

An on-demand backup is a full snapshot you create manually (or on a schedule via AWS Backup) for long-term retention and compliance. Backups work on tables of any size, don't affect performance, and are kept until you explicitly delete them. Through AWS Backup you can also copy them across accounts and Regions and transition older backups to cold storage.

Point-in-time recovery (PITR)

PITR is DynamoDB's continuous backup: once enabled, it provides per-second recovery points for a window you set between 1 and 35 days (35 by default). You never schedule anything — restoring creates a new table at exactly the moment you choose, including across Regions. Disabling and re-enabling PITR resets the window.

No performance tax

Both backup paths run out-of-band: they use no provisioned capacity and have no impact on the performance or availability of the live table. PITR is also the prerequisite for exporting a table to S3.

Go deeper

The backups & PITR guide covers restore mechanics and costs, the pricing calculator estimates the table behind them, and DynoTable gives you a desktop view of the tables you're protecting.

References

Last verified 2026-07-13 against the official AWS documentation linked above.