| title | Support Matrix for Azure Files backup by using Azure Backup |
|---|---|
| description | Provides a summary of support settings and limitations when backing up Azure Files. |
| ms.topic | reference |
| ms.date | 02/17/2026 |
| ms.custom | references_regions, engagement-fy24 |
| ms.service | azure-backup |
| author | AbhishekMallick-MS |
| ms.author | v-mallicka |
This article summarizes the supported settings and limitations when backing up Azure Files by using Azure Backup.
You can use the Azure Backup service to back up Azure Files. This article summarizes support settings when you back up Azure Files with Azure Backup. For common questions, see the frequently asked questions.
Azure Backup now offers general availability of Vaulted Backup for Azure Files (Standard tier), enabling secure, long-term protection with ransomware defense, cross-region recovery, and compliance-ready retention—all managed through a unified backup policy. For more insights, see the Microsoft Community Hub blog. To know the latest product enhancements and feature updates in Azure, see Microsoft Azure Updates.
Note
Azure Backup currently doesn't support file shares with the NFS (Network File System) protocol.
Choose a backup tier:
Azure Files backup is available in all regions, except for Germany Central (Sovereign), Germany Northeast (Sovereign), China East, China North, France South, and US Gov Iowa.
Vaulted backup for Azure Files is available in the following regions: UK South, UK West, Southeast Asia, East Asia, West Central US, Central US, Central India, North Europe, Australia East, West US, East US, South India, France Central, Canada Central, North Central US, East US 2, Australia Southeast, Germany North, France South, West US 2, Brazil South, Japan West, Germany West Central, Canada East, Korea South, Jio India West, Korea Central, South Africa West, Japan East, Norway East, Switzerland West, Norway West, South Africa North, UAE North, West Europe, Sweden Central, Switzerland North, Sweden South, Brazil Southeast, UAE Central, Italy North, Jio India Central, West US 3, Australia Central, Australia Central 2, New Zealand North.
Cross Region Restore is supported in all preceding regions, except Italy North.
Migration of file shares protected with snapshot backup to vaulted backup is supported in the following regions: UK South, UK West, Southeast Asia, East Asia, West Central US, India Central, Spain Central, Jio India West, Israel Central, Australia Central 2 and Germany North, Brazil South, Switzerland North, South Africa North, Australia Southeast, Sweden Central, Norway East, UAE North, West US 3, Japan West, Korea Central, Canada East, South India, Italy North, Poland Central, Australia Central, West Europe, East US, Germany West Central, East US 2, West US 2, Australia East, Japan East, Canada Central, North Central US, West US, France Central.
Note
Cross Subscription Backup and Restore are supported for vaulted backup.
Choose a backup tier:
| Storage account details | Support |
|---|---|
| Account kind | Azure Backup supports Azure Files present in general-purpose v1, general-purpose v2, and file storage type storage accounts |
| Performance | Azure Backup supports file shares in both SSD and HDD storage accounts |
| Replication | Azure Files in storage accounts with any replication type are supported |
| Firewall enabled | Azure Files in storage accounts with Firewall rules that allow Microsoft Azure Services to access storage account are supported |
| Storage account details | Support |
|---|---|
| Account kind | Azure Backup supports Azure Files present in general-purpose v2, and file storage type storage accounts. Storage accounts configured with private endpoints are supported. However, a private endpoint on the vault doesn't apply to Azure Files backup scenarios. |
Important
The source Storage Account must have the Allow storage account key access setting enabled for successful Azure Files backup and restore.
Choose a backup tier:
| File share type | Support |
|---|---|
| HDD ("standard") | Supported |
| SSD ("premium") | Supported |
| File shares connected with Azure File Sync service | Supported |
| File share type | Support |
|---|---|
| HDD ("standard") | Supported |
| SSD ("premium") | Supported |
| File shares connected with Azure File Sync service | Supported |
| Setting | Limit |
|---|---|
| Maximum number of file shares that can be protected per vault per day | 200 |
| Maximum number of storage accounts that can be registered per vault per day | 50 |
| Maximum number of file shares that can be protected per vault | 2000 |
| Maximum number of storage accounts that can be registered per vault | 200 |
| Setting | Limit |
|---|---|
| Maximum number of discoveries of containers that can be backed up to Recovery Services Vault per day | 50 |
| Maximum number of inquiries for protectable items under the given container per day | 25 |
| Maximum number of Configure backup per day | 200 |
| Maximum number of on-demand backups per day | 10 |
Choose a backup tier:
| Setting | Limit |
|---|---|
| Maximum number of scheduled backups per day | 6 |
| Setting | Limit |
|---|---|
| Maximum size of file share | 10 TB |
| Maximum number of files in a file share | 10 million |
Note
If you have multiple backups scheduled per day, only the last scheduled snapshot of the day is transferred to the vault.
| Setting | Limit |
|---|---|
| Maximum number of restore per day | 20 |
Choose a backup tier:
| Setting | Limit |
|---|---|
| Maximum size of a file (if the destination account is in a Vnet) | 1 TB |
| Maximum number of individual files or folders per restore, if ILR (Item level recovery) | 99 |
| Maximum recommended restore size per restore | 15 TiB |
| Maximum duration of a restore job | 7 days |
| Setting | Limit |
|---|---|
| Maximum size of a file | 4 TB |
Choose a backup tier:
| Setting | Limit |
|---|---|
| Maximum total recovery points per file share at any point in time | 200 |
| Maximum retention of recovery point created by on-demand backup | 10 years |
| Maximum retention of daily recovery points (snapshots) per file share, if daily frequency | 200 days |
| Maximum retention of daily recovery points (snapshots) per file share, if hourly frequency | Floor (200/number of snapshots according to the schedule)-1 |
| Maximum retention of weekly recovery points (snapshots) per file share | 200 weeks |
| Maximum retention of monthly recovery points (snapshots) per file share | 120 months |
| Maximum retention of yearly recovery points (snapshots) per file share | 10 years |
| Setting | Limit |
|---|---|
| Maximum retention of snapshot | 30 days |
| Maximum retention of recovery point created by on-demand backup | 99 years |
| Maximum retention of daily recovery points | 9,999 days |
| Maximum retention of weekly recovery points | 5,163 weeks |
| Maximum retention of monthly recovery points | 1,188 months |
| Maximum retention of yearly recovery points | 99 years |
Choose a backup tier:
| Restore method | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Share Restore | You can restore the complete file share to the original or an alternate location |
| Item Level Restore | You can restore individual files and folders to the original or an alternate location |
| Restore method | Description |
|---|---|
| Full Share Restore | You can restore the complete file share to an alternate location |
Note
Original location restores (OLR) and file-level recovery aren't supported. You can perform restore to an empty folder with the Overwrite option only.
Azure Backup doesn't support automatic clock adjustment for daylight saving time for Azure Virtual Machine (VM) backups. It doesn't shift the hour of the backup forward or backwards. To ensure the backup runs at the desired time, modify the backup policies manually as required.
This section describes how your backups and restores are affected after customer-managed failovers.
The following table lists the behavior of backups due to customer-initiated failovers:
| Failover type | Backups | Restore | Enabling protection (reprotection) of failed over account in secondary region |
|---|---|---|---|
| Customer-managed planned failover | Supported | Supported | Not supported |
| Customer-managed unplanned failover | Not supported | Only cross-region restore from the vault is supported. | Not supported |
The following table lists the scope for copy operation:
| Configuration | Support |
|---|---|
| From any storage account | Supported |
| From storage accounts in the same Microsoft Entra tenant | Supported |
| From storage accounts with a private endpoint to the same virtual network | Unsupported |
Azure Trusted Services are allowed, but private endpoints take priority; so, this won't work.