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If I switch my vault backup policy from Snapshot to Vault will it..

MichaelB-2136 110 Reputation points
2026-03-02T15:51:52.94+00:00

I have a file share that I've been using snapshots on for a while, on a 30 day retention policy.

When switching to vault from snapshot it says:

Retain snapshots for 5 days
Retention of daily backup 30 days

If I understand correctly that means there are 5 snapshots stored directly in the file share for convivence but will this delete my current old snapshots beyond 5 days to keep it in line with my new '5 day' snapshot policy?

TLDR: If I switch to vault with the above settings will it delete 25 days of my 30 current snapshot

backups?

Azure Backup
Azure Backup

An Azure backup service that provides built-in management at scale.

Answer accepted by question author
  1. Suchitra Suregaunkar 9,270 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-03-02T19:44:43.8166667+00:00

    Hello @MichaelBroadhead-2136

    Switching the backup tier from Snapshot → Vault‑Standard does not retroactively delete or prune the snapshots you already have.

    The change of backup tier will retain the existing snapshots AS‑IS as per the configured retention in the current policy and that only future backups follow the new Vault‑Standard behavior.

    So in your scenario:

    • You currently have 30 days of snapshots from the Snapshot-tier policy.
    • After switching to Vault‑Standard, the setting “Retain snapshots for 5 days” applies going forward (for operational/fast restore snapshots), while vaulted retention (example: “Daily 30 days”) applies to backups stored in the vault.
    • It will NOT delete 25 days of your existing snapshots immediately just because the “retain snapshots for 5 days” value is lower.

    Reference: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/backup/manage-afs-backup

    Please have a look into below workaround If you want to delete the older snapshots immediately:

    Azure Backup won’t “reconcile” and auto-delete older snapshots right away when you switch tiers. However, you can force cleanup only by stopping protection and choosing to delete recovery points this removes the retained snapshots created/managed as recovery points.

    There are two stop-protection options:

    1. Stop all future backup jobs and delete all recovery points this is the “cleanup now” path, or
    2. Stop future backups but leave recovery points, snapshots remain and may still incur cost).

    So, if the real requirement is “I must reduce snapshots now”, the supported workaround is:

    • Stop protection + delete recovery points, understanding you won’t be able to restore from those once deleted).

    If the concern is snapshot limits, on-demand snapshots contribute to the snapshot count, and if you hit max limits, you may need to delete on-demand snapshots to allow future backups to succeed.

    https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/backup/backup-azure-files-faq

    Thanks,

    Suchitra.

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  1. Q&A Assist
    2026-03-02T15:52:03.8466667+00:00
    AI generated content. This question contains an answer created with AI from Q&A Assist. Learn more

    Switching the backup tier from Snapshot to Vault-Standard does not retroactively delete or change the retention of your existing snapshots.

    When the backup policy is modified and the backup tier is changed from Snapshot to Vault-Standard:

    • Existing snapshots are retained as-is according to the retention configured in the current (snapshot) policy.
    • Only future backups follow the new configuration:
      • A small number of snapshots may still be kept in the storage account (for fast operational recovery) according to snapshotRetentionInDays.
      • The longer-term retention is applied to vaulted backups in the Recovery Services vault.
    • The change of backup tier is irreversible; switching back from vault to snapshot would require reconfiguring backup, but it still does not cause retroactive deletion of existing snapshots.

    So, changing to Vault with “retain snapshots for 5 days / daily backup retention 30 days” will not immediately delete the existing 25 days’ worth of snapshots created under the old 30‑day snapshot-only policy. Those older snapshots will age out according to the retention that was in effect when they were created.

    References:

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