Cant delete Restore Point Collection

Question

Cant delete Restore Point Collection

Una 25

I created Recovery service vault , configured backup on Azure VM , it created app-consistent restore point. After completing my Home lab practical, I deleted the vm, the stopped backed and deleted the backup , deleted the resource group in which resource vault and vm were created. Now i see there was hidden RG created named as AzureBackupRG which conatins the Restore Point Collection and which contains the restore point.

Since VM and resource vault are already deleted, I'm not able to delete this restore point and RG.

Any suggestions how to proceed on it ?

Suchitra Suregaunkar 16,125 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-03T00:18:46.65+00:00

Hello Una

Could you please let us know if the comment above resolved your issue? If you need any further assistance, feel free to reach out—we're always here to support you.

If you found the comment helpful, please consider clicking "Upvote it."

Thank You.
Una 25 Reputation points

2026-07-03T18:24:17.2033333+00:00

HI Suchitra,

Thank you for your help.

I tried to delete the restore point collection , it did give me SAS active error. I tried to revoke it via rest API. It failed first.

Later I tried to delete the hidden resource group. I was able to delete the Resource group itself and the restore collection point and restore point were removed as well.

Thank you

Answer accepted by question author

Suchitra Suregaunkar 16,125 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hello Una

Thanks for reaching out on Microsoft Q&A.

When you enable backup on an Azure VM, Azure Backup automatically creates a hidden system resource group named in the pattern AzureBackupRG_<region>_<n> (for example, AzureBackupRG_eastus_1). This resource group stores the Restore Point Collection (Microsoft.Compute/restorePointCollections) used for Instant Restore snapshots.

These snapshots are separate from the recovery points in the Recovery Services vault. So when you deleted the VM, disabled the backup, and removed the parent resource group + vault, the instant restore point collection was left behind as an orphaned resource which is why the AzureBackupRG resource group cannot be deleted.

This behavior is by design and enforced by Azure Resource Manager — it's not a portal bug or a permissions issue.

Please have a look into below resolution steps:

Step 1: Locate the hidden Restore Point Collection

Sign in to the https://portal.azure.com.
Navigate to Resource groups → open AzureBackupRG_<region>_<n>.
On the top menu, tick the checkbox Show hidden types.
You will see a resource of type Microsoft.Compute/restorePointCollections named like AzureBackup_<vm-name>_##########.

Step 2: Delete the Restore Point Collection

Try deleting it directly from the portal first. If the portal delete fails, use Azure PowerShell (the officially supported method):

Remove-AzResource `
 -ResourceGroupName "AzureBackupRG_<region>_<n>" `
 -ResourceType "Microsoft.Compute/restorePointCollections" `
 -Name "AzureBackup_<vm-name>_##########" `
 -Force

Or Azure CLI:

RESTOREPOINTCOL=$(az resource list -g AzureBackupRG_<region>_1 \
 --resource-type Microsoft.Compute/restorePointCollections \
 --query "[?starts_with(name, 'AzureBackup_<vm-name>')].id" -o tsv)
az resource delete --ids $RESTOREPOINTCOL

This operation only removes the instant recovery snapshots — it does not touch any vault data (which you have already deleted).

Step 3: If the delete still fails with an "active SAS" error

If you see an error like:"There is an active shared access signature outstanding for disk restore point…"

it means a Shared Access Signature (SAS) is still attached to the underlying disk restore point. You'll need to revoke it via the REST API before deleting:

Reference: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/rest/api/compute/disk-restore-point/revoke-access

Once the SAS is revoked, retry the Remove-AzResource command.

Step 4: Delete the AzureBackupRG resource group

After all restore point collections are removed, the hidden resource group will delete cleanly from the portal or via:

Remove-AzResourceGroup -Name "AzureBackupRG_<region>_<n>" -Force

Reference:

Azure resource move fails because the VM is configured with Azure Backup — includes the exact PowerShell / CLI commands to remove orphaned restore point collections.
Manage recovery points — Azure Backup — explains the impact of deleting a VM without stopping protection first.

If you continue to face issues after following these steps (for example, the SAS revoke doesn't clear the lock), please share the exact error message from the portal / PowerShell output so I can look further.

Thanks,

Suchitra.

Suchitra Suregaunkar 16,125 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-03T18:57:39.9866667+00:00

Hello Una

Thank you for the upvote.

We are glad that the provided information helped you. Along with that Accepting the answer is equally important because it confirms the resolution and helps others in the community quickly find verified solutions. It also reflects the success of our joint effort to resolve your query. If anything is still unclear or you need further assistance, please let us know.

We are happy to help.

So, kindly consider marking the answer as Accepted and this helps other community members who may encounter a similar issue in the future.

2 additional answers

Your answer

Suchitra Suregaunkar 16,125 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-03T00:18:46.65+00:00

Hello Una

Could you please let us know if the comment above resolved your issue? If you need any further assistance, feel free to reach out—we're always here to support you.

If you found the comment helpful, please consider clicking "Upvote it."

Thank You.
Una 25 Reputation points

2026-07-03T18:24:17.2033333+00:00

HI Suchitra,

Thank you for your help.

I tried to delete the restore point collection , it did give me SAS active error. I tried to revoke it via rest API. It failed first.

Later I tried to delete the hidden resource group. I was able to delete the Resource group itself and the restore collection point and restore point were removed as well.

Thank you
Suchitra Suregaunkar 16,125 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-03T18:57:39.9866667+00:00

Hello Una

Thank you for the upvote.

We are glad that the provided information helped you. Along with that Accepting the answer is equally important because it confirms the resolution and helps others in the community quickly find verified solutions. It also reflects the success of our joint effort to resolve your query. If anything is still unclear or you need further assistance, please let us know.

We are happy to help.

So, kindly consider marking the answer as Accepted and this helps other community members who may encounter a similar issue in the future.

Answer 1

TP 160.7K Volunteer Moderator

Hi,

Please navigate to Restore Point Collections using link below:

https://portal.azure.com/#browse/Microsoft.Compute%2FrestorePointCollections

Click on the name of your restore point collection, next click the Delete button at the top, click OK to confirm. If the delete fails, please reply with the precise error message in comment below. You may need to click on the message, click Raw tab, and/or view the Activity log to get the full error.

Thanks.

-TP

0 comments

Answer 2

The restore point collection is created and managed by Azure Backup in the hidden AzureBackupRG_<region>_1 resource group. After deleting the VM and vault, the restore point collection can block cleanup or be hard to delete. Use the following approach:

Confirm backup is stopped and backup item deleted
- In the Azure portal, go to Recovery Services vault (if any vault still exists for that VM) and ensure:
  - Backup for that VM is stopped.
  - Backup data is deleted (not just retained). See the “Delete backup data” steps for VM backups.
Delete the restore point collection from the portal
- In the Azure portal, locate the hidden backup resource group:
  - Resource group name pattern: AzureBackupRG_<region>_1 (for example, AzureBackupRG_westus2_1).
- Open that resource group and locate the restore point collection named like AzureBackup_<vm-name>_##########.
- Select the restore point collection and choose Delete. If there are many restore points, deletion might time out; retry a couple of times as needed.
If portal delete fails, use CLI or PowerShell
- Azure CLI: Use az restore-point collection delete against the AzureBackupRG_<region>_1 resource group and the restore point collection name:
  - Provide --resource-group and --collection-name (or --ids) as appropriate.
- Azure PowerShell: Use Remove-AzRestorePointCollection:
  - Example:
```
       Remove-AzRestorePointCollection -ResourceGroupName <AzureBackupRG_region_1> -Name <AzureBackup_vmname_##########> -Confirm
```
Check for soft delete on the vault (if it still exists)
- If the Recovery Services vault is still present and soft delete is enabled, and restore points were recently deleted, soft-deleted items can block cleanup.
- Either:
  - Disable soft delete on the vault and wait for the restore points to be purged, or
  - Wait 14 days for soft-deleted restore points to expire automatically.
Retry deletion of the resource group
- After the restore point collection is deleted and any soft-delete retention is cleared, delete the AzureBackupRG_<region>_1 resource group.

If the original vault has already been deleted and only the AzureBackupRG and restore point collection remain, focus on deleting the restore point collection via portal, CLI, or PowerShell as above, then remove the resource group.

References: