A system and method are disclosed for managing snapshots of a distributed file system. In accordance with one implementation, a list of snapshots of a file system is presented to a user, where the snapshots include one or more active snapshots and one or more inactive snapshots. A request by the user to access one of the snapshots in the list is received. In response to determining that the requested snapshot is active, the user is provided access to the requested snapshot. In response to determining that the requested snapshot is inactive, the requested snapshot is activated and the user is provided access to the requested snapshot.