Data Snapshot: Track the History of a Field in Zoho Analytics

Data Snapshot - Track the History of a Field in Zoho Analytics

Data Snapshot in Zoho Analytics lets you capture and maintain a timeline of changes to a specific metric or set of metrics over time. It periodically records the data from a chosen report and stores it in a separate table, letting you build genuinely historical reports rather than only ever seeing a current-state snapshot.

A Practical Example

If you have a report showing Leads by Source and Status, a Data Snapshot lets you track how that breakdown changes every hour, day, week, or month, rather than only ever seeing the current picture. This is genuinely useful for comparing performance improvements over time, something a live-refreshing report alone can't show you.

Setting Up a Data Snapshot

  1. Open the report you want to track, and find the Data Snapshot option.
  2. In the Create New Snapshot screen, use the "How often" section to choose your schedule interval, or select the option to import the data only once and run the snapshot manually when needed.
  3. Set a data retention period, controlling how long historical snapshot data is kept before being purged.
  4. Save the snapshot configuration.

Reviewing Snapshot History

From Data Sources in the side panel, go to the Snapshots section, and use View Snapshot History on the relevant snapshot to see a calendar of every day a snapshot was taken. Clicking a specific date shows the exact time the data was fetched, along with how many rows and columns were imported at that point.

Limitations to know: Snapshots can't be created over pivot tables that contain data in the Column shelf, and forecasted values are never captured in a snapshot, only actual recorded data. Also worth knowing: Zoho Analytics currently lets you set a refresh frequency for data sources, but not a specific time of day for that refresh to run, which is a genuinely active area of user feedback if precise scheduling timing matters to you.

Editing an Existing Snapshot

To adjust the name, retention period, or schedule interval of a snapshot you've already created, go to Data Sources, then Snapshots, hover over the relevant snapshot, and click the Info icon to open the Edit Snapshot screen.

Need help? 1 Cloud Consultants can help you set up Data Snapshots in Zoho Analytics to build genuinely historical, trend-based reporting. Book a discovery call with 1 Cloud Consultants.