How can i delete disk belonging to unexisting vm?

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How can i delete disk belonging to unexisting vm?

MR IT Admin 20

I was moving a VM and some disk resources between subscriptions and it was terminated with an error. the disks were moved to the target and the vm was stuck in the source subscription.

i am able to delete the vm (and network) in the source subscription.

Now i am left with 2 disks in the target subscription that i am not able to delete as they are still attached to the source (non-existent) vm.

Similar to:

i. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/2283721/can-t-delete-disk-belonging-to-unexisting-vm?source=docs

ii. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/73592/cannot-delete-resources-because-attached-to-a-non

iii. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1072539/cannot-delete-resources-(disks)-attached-to-a-non

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Answer 1

Jilakara Hemalatha 7,165 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi MR IT Admin

Thank you for reaching out Q/A out. It looks like the disks are still showing as attached to a non-existent VM due to a stale managedBy reference after the failed VM move. Here’s how you can resolve this:

Check Dependencies: Sometimes, Azure retains a reference to resources even after the VM is deleted. You should ensure that the disks aren’t attached to any other existing VMs.
Use the Azure Portal: Go to the Azure portal and check if there's any option to detach the disks directly:
- Search for and select Disks from the portal.
- Locate the disks that are causing the trouble, and check if there's an option to detach them.
If the disks still appear attached but you are certain they are not in use, you can forcefully delete them using Option 1: Force detach the disk using Azure CLI (preferred) Clear the managedBy property:
```
   az disk update --resource-group <ResourceGroupName> --name <DiskName> --set managedBy=""
```
Delete the disk:
```
   az disk delete --resource-group <ResourceGroupName> --name <DiskName>  --yes
```
This clears the stale VM reference and allows deletion. Option 2: Recreate a dummy VM (workaround) Only if the above options fail:
1. Recreate a VM with the exact same resource ID (same name, RG, subscription).
2. Attach the disk.
3. Detach it cleanly.
4. Delete the disk.
Please find below reference documentations:

Find and delete unattached Azure managed and unmanaged disks by using Azure PowerShell

Attach a managed data disk to a Windows VM by using the Azure portal

Hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any queries.

MR IT Admin 20 Reputation points

2025-12-17T23:24:49.9633333+00:00

Hello there!

i have no other dependencies and there is no option to detach.

when using the cli to detach, the command completes without error but the output shows that the disk is still attached. the delete command does not work: (OperationNotAllowed) disk is attached to vm.

i've also tried using https://resources.azure.com/ to delete the disks. i will get the same error.

when trying to create a dummy vm, there is no way to swap the OS disk or attach another disk as they do not show up (the disks are in another subscription).

the references do not apply as the disks are currently attached and i'm using a linux vm.
Jilakara Hemalatha 7,165 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-12-18T01:39:53.31+00:00

Hi MR IT Admin

Could you please check the private message and please provide necessary details.
Jilakara Hemalatha 7,165 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-12-21T07:42:12.7233333+00:00

Hi MR IT Admin,

Thank you for providing the details. We have deleted the disks from the backend metadata. Could you please check and confirm on it.

If issue resolved. could you please accept the answer and upvote it.

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How can i delete disk belonging to unexisting vm?

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