Turn on Azure Blob soft delete, choose a retention period, and confirm you can recover a deleted test object.
What the setting covers
Blob soft delete retains deleted blob data for a configured period, giving you a recovery window after accidental deletion. It is one part of storage protection. Microsoft recommends considering versioning and other data protection features too. Blob soft delete is separate from container soft delete, so review both if entire containers could be deleted.
Enable it in the Azure portal
- Open the Azure portal and select the storage account you want to protect.
- Under Data management, open Data protection. In Recovery, turn on soft delete for blobs.
- Choose a retention period from 1 to 365 days. Microsoft recommends at least seven days; choose longer if your recovery needs warrant it and account for retained storage costs.
- Save, then return to Data protection to confirm the setting and period persisted.
Run a safe recovery test
Use a disposable test blob in a test container. Delete only that test blob, open the container, and turn on Show deleted blobs. Select the deleted blob. If versioning is off, use Undelete on its Overview tab, then open the recovered object to confirm it is intact. If versioning is enabled, Microsoft instructs you to select a previous version and make it current to restore the base blob; Undelete alone restores deleted versions or snapshots but not the base blob.
Operational checks
Document the retention period and who can restore data. A deleted item must still be within retention to appear for recovery. Test with the account’s actual access model, because visibility can differ with hierarchical namespace and ACL-based authorization. Recheck the configuration after changes to storage account templates or policies.
Sources
Microsoft Learn: Enable soft delete for blobs; Microsoft Learn: Manage and restore soft-deleted blobs.
