How to hold snap refreshes

Snap refresh holds pause automatic updates for one snap or for all installed snaps. They are useful when a maintenance window is still open, a new revision needs testing elsewhere first, or an application owner needs time before the next automatic refresh.

The snap refresh –hold command can target named snaps for a duration or hold all snaps when no name is supplied. Targeted holds block automatic refreshes and general refreshes for those snaps, but a command that explicitly refreshes the held snap can still proceed.

A completed hold should appear in the Notes column of snap list for a named snap or in refresh timing output for a system-wide hold. Always remove the hold when the maintenance reason ends so security and bug-fix refreshes can resume.

1. Check the installed snapd version.

   $ snap version
   snap          2.75.2
   snapd         2.75.2
   series        16
   ubuntu        26.04
   kernel        6.12.0-9-generic

   Refresh holds require snapd 2.58 or later.

2. Hold one snap for a fixed period.

   $ sudo snap refresh --hold=24h firefox
   General refreshes of "firefox" held until 2026-06-25T09:30:00+08:00

3. Confirm that the named snap is held.

   $ snap list firefox
   Name     Version  Rev   Tracking       Publisher  Notes
   firefox  127.0    4336  latest/stable  mozilla    held

4. Hold automatic refreshes for all snaps when the whole host is in maintenance.

   $ sudo snap refresh --hold=2h
   Auto-refresh of all snaps held until 2026-06-24T11:30:00+08:00

   A hold without a snap name affects automatic refreshes for all snaps. It does not block a manual snap refresh command.

5. Remove a hold from a named snap.

   $ sudo snap refresh --unhold firefox
   Removed general refresh hold of "firefox"

6. Remove the system-wide auto-refresh hold.

   $ sudo snap refresh --unhold
   Removed auto-refresh hold on all snaps

7. Check the next refresh time.

   $ snap refresh --time
   timer: 00:00~24:00/4
   last: today at 07:47 +08
   next: today at 13:12 +08