# Is there a limit to how many times EvalBootstrap can be performed on a ciphertext? **URL:** \ **Category:** FHE Questions\ **Created:** [May 29, 2024, 12:12pm UTC](https://openfhe.discourse.group/t/is-there-a-limit-to-how-many-times-evalbootstrap-can-be-performed-on-a-ciphertext/1306 "2024-05-29T12:12:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![IsaacQuebec](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f04885/32.png) [@IsaacQuebec](https://openfhe.discourse.group/u/IsaacQuebec)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2024, 12:12pm UTC](https://openfhe.discourse.group/t/is-there-a-limit-to-how-many-times-evalbootstrap-can-be-performed-on-a-ciphertext/1306/1 "2024-05-29T12:12:59Z")
I suspect that EvalBootstrap cannot be performed infinitely many times? I encountered the following error in an OpenFHE program: ```auto terminate called after throwing an instance of 'lbcrypto::math_error' what(): /openfhe-development/src/pke/lib/encoding/ckkspackedencoding.cpp:535 The decryption failed because the approximation error is too high. Check the parameters. Aborted (core dumped) ``` My understanding is that EvalBootstrap only increases the approximation error rather than decreasing it. So, I guess if EvalBootstrap is repeatedly applied to a ciphertext without any other operations, will it eventually lead to the same error as above? ---
**Author:** ![andreea.alexandru](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/openfhe.discourse.group/andreea.alexandru/32/378_2.png) [@andreea.alexandru](https://openfhe.discourse.group/u/andreea.alexandru)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2024, 6:30pm UTC](https://openfhe.discourse.group/t/is-there-a-limit-to-how-many-times-evalbootstrap-can-be-performed-on-a-ciphertext/1306/2 "2024-05-29T18:30:48Z")
Please check related posts on the forum about this question: [About performing many bootstrapping](https://openfhe.discourse.group/t/about-performing-many-bootstrapping/394), [Infinite Circuits in CKKS](https://openfhe.discourse.group/t/infinite-circuits-in-ckks/479).