# Sync from Snapshot

After [joining a network](/content/guide/maintain/node/join-a-network/index.html), your node will need to catch up to the current state of the blockchain which may take some time. You can significantly accelerate the synchronization process by providing `palomad` with a recent snapshot of the network state.

## Check Sync Status

To check if your node is all caught up curl your node RPC endpoint

```text
# Query via the RPC (default port: 26657)
curl http://localhost:26657/status | jq .result.sync_info.catching_up
```

If this command returns `true` then your node is still catching up. If it returns `false` then your node has caught up to the network current block.

You can also compare the block that your node is currently on against another source such as the [explorer(opens new window)](https://paloma.explorers.guru/blocks) to check on the progress of your node's sync via:

```text
curl http://localhost:26657/status | jq .result.sync_info.latest_block_height
```

## Available Snapshots

### Paloma Snapshot

Paloma makes snapshots available for download here [here.(opens new window)](https://download.palomachain.com/)

The archived snapshot contains the state and transactions of the network, which are stored in the ~./paloma/data/ folder by default. You should navigate exactly to the ~./paloma/ folder before proceeding to unpack it, or make sure that the contents of the archive are placed into ~./paloma/.

1. Stop Paloma if it's currently running and remove any existing data

```text
   service palomad stop
   rm -rf ~/.paloma/data
   ```

2. Download and unpack the snapshot in the .paloma directory.

```text
   cd ~/.paloma
   wget https://download.palomachain.com/testnet.paloma.snapshot.tar.gz
tar -xf testnet.paloma.snapshot.tar.gz
   ```

Due to the size of the network, this may take some time.

3. After the snapshot is completely unpacked, start `palomad`:

```text
   service palomad start
   ```

### NodeJumper Snapshots

NodeJumper Validator also provides a snapshot to the community. See details and instructions on their [website.(opens new window)](https://nodejumper.io/paloma-testnet/sync)

## Sync faster during testing

Sometimes you may want to sync faster by foregoing checks. This command should only be used by advanced users in non-production environments. To speed up the sync process during testing, use the following command:

```bash
palomad start --x-crisis-skip-assert-invariants
```