SQL Data Sync has served customers well for many years, and we recognize that many teams rely on it. As operational, security, and compliance requirements have continued to evolve, we are progressing through the previously announced retirement in a way that gives customers time and guidance to transition.

In 2024, we announced that SQL Data Sync will retire on September 30, 2027. As we enter the final year before retirement, we are moving to the next phase to help customers avoid new dependencies and focus on the transition.

What is changing

Starting on September 9, 2026, new SQL Data Sync deployments can no longer be created in Azure subscriptions that have not previously used the service.

This change affects only Azure subscriptions that have never used SQL Data Sync. If your subscription already uses the service, nothing changes for you: you can continue to create, modify, and manage sync groups and member databases throughout the remaining retirement period.

One year remains to complete transition

We announced SQL Data Sync retirement three years in advance to provide customers with time to assess their dependencies, select an appropriate alternative, and complete the transition before the service is retired.

With approximately one year remaining, we encourage customers who still rely on SQL Data Sync to begin or continue the transition work. We recognize that transitioning takes effort, and we are committed to helping you find the right fit. Depending on your topology, data volume, synchronization direction, and availability requirements, the transition can involve architectural evaluation, testing, and carefully planned execution.

How to check whether you are using SQL Data Sync

SQL Data Sync is organized around sync groups. Each sync group has an Azure SQL Database that serves as its hub database and one or more member databases. Member databases can be databases in Azure SQL Database or SQL Server instances.

To check an individual Azure SQL Database in the Azure portal, assuming you have a handful of them:

1. Sign in to the Azure portal.
2. Type “Azure SQL Database” in the search field and select the service
3. Select SQL databases from the menu
4. Open listed Azure SQL Databases  one by one.
5. Under Data management, select Sync to other databases.
6. Any related sync groups will be listed.

If sync groups are listed, the database is configured as a SQL Data Sync hub. Review each sync group to identify its member databases, synchronization direction, schedule, and status.

Organizations with many subscriptions, logical servers, or databases can perform a broader inventory across their Azure SQL Database estate. Azure PowerShell and Azure SQL management REST API can help automate discovery of sync groups by iterating through Azure SQL Database resources in subscriptions of a tenant.

Choose an alternative based on your scenario

SQL Data Sync was built on an earlier generation of synchronization technology. Newer Azure capabilities support a broader range of security, performance, and operational characteristics, so retirement is a good opportunity to reassess your use cases, reduce legacy dependencies, and adopt a modern solution aligned with latest security practices and your workload's current requirements.

SQL Data Sync supports several scenarios, including synchronization between SQL Server and Azure SQL Database, distribution of data for reporting, and synchronization across regions. There is no single replacement that maps to every SQL Data Sync configuration, and the scenario-based guidance below maps each common configuration to a recommended path to help customers identify optimal path for each deployment.

The appropriate replacement depends on several factors:

• Source and destination platforms
• One-way or bidirectional synchronization
• Acceptable synchronization latency
• Number of databases and synchronization topology
• Availability and disaster recovery requirements
• Data transformation and orchestration needs
• Data volume and throughput

Depending on your scenario, alternatives may include:

• Azure Data Factory for scheduled, incremental, or orchestrated data movement.
• Transactional replication for one-way data distribution from SQL Server to Azure SQL Database.
• Always On availability groups or Managed Instance link for the reporting replicas of the entire database in SQL Server in Azure VM or Azure SQL Managed Instance, respectively.
• Active geo-replication or read replicas for read-scale and regional availability scenarios.
• Azure SQL trigger for Azure Functions for application-specific synchronization logic leveraging SQL binding.
• Mirroring in Fabric for analytics scenarios that require continuous replication of operational data in Microsoft Fabric.

For detailed guidance organized by scenario and source and destination platform, see SQL Data Sync retirement: Migrate to alternative solutions.

There are two more recommended reads with detailed description of ADF-based alternative solutions:

Azure SQL Database Data Sync retirement: Migration scenarios and recommended alternatives

Azure SQL Data Sync Retirement: Migration Insights and Modern Alternatives

Recommended next steps

If your organization currently uses SQL Data Sync:

1. Inventory all SQL Data Sync deployments across your Azure subscriptions, including sync groups that are inactive.
2. Identify the hub databases, member databases, on-premises sync agents, and dependent applications associated with each deployment.
3. Document the business scenario, data flow direction, synchronization frequency, data throughput, latency and observability requirements, if you have not already done so.
4. Use the guidance to identify suitable alternatives for each deployment.
5. Configure and validate the replacement solution in a non-production environment. Temporarily disable Automatic Sync option for sync group during validation.
6. Fully remove SQL Data Sync resources after confirming that the replacement solution is operating successfully and that applications no longer depend on the existing sync groups.

If you have questions and have an Azure support plan, you can create a support request through the Azure portal. You can also ask questions through the Azure SQL Database community on Microsoft Q&A.

Summary

The SQL Data Sync retirement process is entering its final year. New SQL Data Sync deployments can no longer be created in Azure subscriptions that have not previously used the service. For subscriptions already using the service, functionality is unchanged, and sync groups can continue operating until the end of the retirement period.

SQL Data Sync will retire on September 30, 2027. If your organization still depends on the service, now is a good time to identify your deployments, finalize your replacement architecture, and complete the transition.