Deleted files in Azure

DON ADMIN hi,

whether u can recover them depends entirely on what protection features were enabled before they were deleted. Azure does not keep automatic long term backups of blobs unless specific features were turned on.

Check if soft delete for blobs was enabled on that storage account during that time. If soft delete was on and the retention period has not expired, u can restore the deleted blobs from the deleted state in the container.

Second check if blob versioning was enabled. If versioning was on older versions may still exist even if the current blob was deleted. Third check if Blob Backup via Recovery Services vault was configured. If yes u may be able to restore from a recovery point. If none of those were enabled and the blobs were permanently deleted, there is no standard recovery option. Azure does not keep hidden backups unless a data protection feature was configured.

You should immediately go Storage account > Data protection > confirm soft delete and retention settings Container > Show deleted blobs Recovery Services vault if used

If this was accidental deletion and soft delete was enabled but expired recently open a msft ticket immediately, sometimes recovery is possible only within a limited window.

If no protection was configured unfortunately the data is permanently gone.

Sorry.

rgds,

Alex

Hi DON ADMIN,

Thanks for reaching out in Microsoft Q&A forum,

We understand the 62 blobs missing from your Azure Storage Account between February 3 and February 18, 2026, are critical for your certification program. Recovery is often possible using Azure's built-in data protection features like soft delete and versioning, especially since only about 20–37 days have passed as of March 10, 2026. Here's a clear path forward in simple steps.

• log into the Azure portal and navigate to your storage account > Data management > Data protection > Blob service. Check if soft delete is enabled and note the retention period (typically 7–365 days). If the period covers your dates (e.g., 30+ days), the blobs are likely still there.

If soft delete is on:

Go to the container > Blobs tab > check Show deleted blobs.

Filter by deletion date (Feb 3–18, 2026), select the 62 blobs, and click Undelete on each (or use bulk select).

For scripting (PowerShell or Azure CLI):

az storage blob list --account-name <your-account> --container-name <your-container> --include-deleted=true --query "[?properties.deletedTime >= '2026-02-03' && properties.deletedTime <= '2026-02-18']"

az storage blob undelete --account-name <your-account> --container-name <your-container> --name <blob-name>

• Blob Versioning: Go to your container > Versioning settings. If enabled, earlier versions of the blobs may still exist—promote them via ellipsis menu > Promote version or CLI az storage blob copy start with ?versionid=<prior-id>. This works independently of soft delete.

If soft delete is not enabled on your Azure Storage Account, self-service recovery of the 62 missing blobs (from Feb 3–18, 2026) becomes much harder, as deleted blobs are permanently purged immediately.

Reference:

• Manage and restore soft-deleted blobs - Azure Storage | Microsoft Learn
• Azure Storage data protection, backup, and recovery - Azure | Microsoft Learn
• Blob versioning - Azure Storage | Microsoft Learn

Kindly let us know if the above helps or you need further assistance on this issue.

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