Restoring a master
Retrieve, verify, reassemble, and decrypt the original file.
A restore returns the original master file, rebuilt from its stored pieces. Retrieval is direct from the storage providers: there is no CDN or streaming path.
Start a restore
From a master, choose Restore master. A confirmation explains what will happen: the pieces are retrieved directly from providers, verified against their content addresses, reassembled, and decrypted. This typically takes a few minutes.
What happens during a restore
The restore moves through these stages:
- Locating pieces across providers
- Retrieving pieces from providers
- Verifying piece content addresses
- Reassembling master
- Decrypting
Each piece is checked against its PieceCID as it comes back, so a corrupted or wrong piece is caught before it is used: you only ever get back bytes that match what was proven on-chain.
Verified on the way back
Restore is not a blind download. The content-address check during Verifying piece content addresses means the reassembled, decrypted file is guaranteed to match the master you uploaded.
Download
When the restore reports Master restored, a Download master action becomes available to download the reassembled file. If a restore fails, it surfaces the error with Try again.