Forum Discussion
Deleting an Immutable, vault-locking enabled Recovery Services Vault in Azure
Hey everyone, just wanted to share something I confirmed with Microsoft Support - could be useful if you're managing Recovery Services vaults with immutability and vault-locking enabled.
Once immutability and vault-lock are in place, the vault can't normally be deleted until all backup data has passed its retention period. It's meant to protect data and enforce policies.
However, if you have a special case where you really need to delete the vault early, you can submit a request through Microsoft Support.
You’ll need to open a support case.
Clearly explain the situation and why early deletion is needed (include vault details, customer consent, or strong justification).
Microsoft reviews these requests individually — it’s not guaranteed, but it's possible.
Also important: costs keep adding up as long as the vault exists. So if you think you might need help, reach out to Support early to avoid unexpected billing.
Hope this helps someone!
1 Reply
In my opinion, it defeats the purpose of immutability if Microsoft can delete it without having to delete the entire tenant, that Microsoft have stated was needed to remove the immutability.
Can we confirm if Microsoft would actually do this in a specific case?
