As workloads grow, the VM size you started with may no longer be enough — resizing is straightforward, but it does require a brief restart.

Steps

1. In the Azure portal, go to Virtual machines and select the VM.
2. Click Size in the left-hand menu.
3. Review the list of available sizes — Azure only shows sizes supported by the current hardware cluster the VM is running on.
4. Select the new size and click Resize.
5. The VM will restart to apply the change — plan for a few minutes of downtime.

Common Questions

Why isn't the size I want showing up in the list?

Azure only lists sizes available on the specific hardware cluster hosting your VM. If the size you need isn't listed, you may need to stop/deallocate the VM first (which releases it from that cluster) before resizing, or in rare cases redeploy it.

Will resizing cause any data loss?

No — resizing changes the compute resources (CPU/memory) allocated to the VM, not its disks or data. The brief restart is the only disruption.

Does resizing down actually save money right away?

Yes — Azure VM billing is based on the size you're running, so a resize takes effect on your bill from that point forward with no separate step needed.