Question: Disposal of expired SQL Server Backups on Azure

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Question: Disposal of expired SQL Server Backups on Azure

Engineer1 20

Hello,

We use SQL Server on Azure as PaaS - and have configured backup and retention as detailed here:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/long-term-backup-retention-configure?view=azuresql&tabs=portal

We're looking for details regarding how expired (out of retention) backups are disposed of on Azure - i.e., are they automatically deleted and is that delete irrecoverable?

Thanks in advance for your kind assistance.

Mahesh Kurva 6,850 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-08-11T16:42:07.9733333+00:00
Hi Engineer1,

Greetings!!

As i understand, that you're looking for information about what happens to expired SQL Server backups on Azure, specifically regarding their deletion process and whether that deletion is recoverable.

Automated backups, including those configured under Long-Term Retention (LTR) or the default short-term retention (7–35 days), are automatically deleted once their configured retention period expires.

Long-Term Retention (LTR) policy allows you to automatically retain full backups in separate Azure Blob storage containers for up to 10 years.

Irrecoverable Deletion, Once the backups are deleted, they cannot be recovered. This means that if a backup is past its retention period and gets deleted, it is permanently lost.

For more information, please refer the documents:

Long-term backup retention.

Automated backups in Azure SQL Database.

I hope this information helps. Please do let us know if you have any further queries.

Your answer

Mahesh Kurva 6,850 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-08-11T16:42:07.9733333+00:00

Hi Engineer1,

Greetings!!

As i understand, that you're looking for information about what happens to expired SQL Server backups on Azure, specifically regarding their deletion process and whether that deletion is recoverable.

Automated backups, including those configured under Long-Term Retention (LTR) or the default short-term retention (7–35 days), are automatically deleted once their configured retention period expires.

Long-Term Retention (LTR) policy allows you to automatically retain full backups in separate Azure Blob storage containers for up to 10 years.

Irrecoverable Deletion, Once the backups are deleted, they cannot be recovered. This means that if a backup is past its retention period and gets deleted, it is permanently lost.

For more information, please refer the documents:

Long-term backup retention.

Automated backups in Azure SQL Database.

I hope this information helps. Please do let us know if you have any further queries.

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Question: Disposal of expired SQL Server Backups on Azure

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