Auto-pause and auto-resume are now available in public preview for Azure SQL Database Hyperscale databases using the Serverless compute tier.
With auto-pause enabled, a database can automatically pause during periods of inactivity and resume when activity returns, helping reduce costs for workloads that experience extended or predictable idle periods. When a database is paused, compute billing stops and only storage-related charges continue to apply.
Auto-pause and auto-resume can be enabled for both new and existing Hyperscale databases using the Serverless compute tier, and the preview is available in all regions where Hyperscale Serverless is supported.
If you’ve used auto-pause and auto-resume with General Purpose Serverless, the experience in Hyperscale should feel familiar. We've designed the configuration and behavior to closely follow what's already available in the General Purpose tier.
Configure auto-pause and auto-resume
You can configure auto-pause and auto-resume through the Azure portal, Azure CLI, Azure PowerShell, or REST API.
Existing Hyperscale Serverless databases won’t automatically have auto-pause enabled, but you can enable it by updating the database configuration. You can also configure auto-pause when creating a new Hyperscale Serverless database.
Configure the auto-pause delay for a Hyperscale Serverless database in the Azure portal.
The following Azure CLI example creates a Hyperscale Serverless database with a 60-minute auto-pause delay:
$resourceGroupName = "<resource group name>"
$serverName = "<logical SQL server name>"
$databaseName = "<database name>"
az sql db create `
-g $resourceGroupName `
-s $serverName `
-n $databaseName `
-e Hyperscale `
--compute-model Serverless `
-f Gen5 `
--min-capacity 0.5 `
-c 2 `
--auto-pause-delay 60
And this example updates the minimum and maximum vCores and sets the auto-pause delay for an existing Hyperscale Serverless database:
$resourceGroupName = "<resource group name>"
$serverName = "<logical SQL server name>"
$databaseName = "<database name>"
az sql db update `
-g $resourceGroupName `
-s $serverName `
-n $databaseName `
--min-capacity 1 `
--capacity 4 `
--auto-pause-delay 1440
If you're using Azure CLI, Azure PowerShell, or REST API and want to disable auto-pause, set the auto-pause delay to -1.
Things to know during the preview
There are a few behaviors and limitations to keep in mind during the public preview:
- The minimum auto-pause delay is currently 60 minutes.
-
New Hyperscale Serverless databases created through Azure CLI, Azure PowerShell, or REST API will receive a default auto-pause delay of 60 minutes if --auto-pause-delay (or the equivalent parameter) isn't explicitly specified. This mirrors the existing behavior for General Purpose Serverless.
-
If you don't want a new database to auto-pause, specify an auto-pause delay of -1 when creating the database through Azure CLI, Azure PowerShell, or REST API. Likewise, to disable auto-pause on an existing database that has auto-pause enabled, set the auto-pause delay to -1.
- Named Replicas aren't supported with auto-pause during the preview.
Moving from General Purpose to Hyperscale
If you're migrating an existing General Purpose Serverless database to Hyperscale, you'll also need to account for the difference in the supported minimum auto-pause delay.
Here are the current behaviors during preview:
- If the General Purpose database has an auto-pause delay of less than 60 minutes and you don't specify a new value, the operation will fail.
- If the existing auto-pause delay is 60 minutes or higher and you don't specify a new value, the operation will succeed.
- Regardless of the existing value, the operation will succeed if you specify a new auto-pause delay of 60 minutes or higher.
For example, if you're moving a General Purpose Serverless database that has a 15-minute auto-pause delay, specify a supported Hyperscale value, such as 60 minutes, as part of the operation.
Why this matters
You can now combine Hyperscale's independent scaling of compute and storage with the ability to automatically pause inactive databases. If auto-pause has been one of the reasons you've stayed on General Purpose Serverless, you no longer have to make that tradeoff when moving to Hyperscale.
And because the experience closely mirrors General Purpose Serverless, existing tools, automation, and operational practices can be used with minimal changes.
Get started
- Read the documentation:
- Share feedback through the Azure SQL Database Community
- Read more SQLCon Europe 2026 announcements:
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