A backup is only useful if you know how to restore from it — ideally before you're under pressure during an actual incident.

Steps for a Full VM Restore

1. In the Azure portal, open the Recovery Services vault protecting the VM.
2. Go to Backup items, select the VM, then choose a Restore point (a specific date/time the backup was taken).
3. Click Restore VM.
4. Choose Create new (deploys a brand-new VM from the backup, leaving the original untouched) or Replace existing (overwrites the current VM's disks) — creating a new VM is the safer default when you're not sure the original is unrecoverable.
5. Set the resource group, virtual network, and other deployment details, then click Restore.

Other Restore Options

• Restore disks only — useful if you just need to attach a recovered disk to an existing VM rather than deploy an entirely new one.
• File recovery — Azure Backup can mount a recovery point as a drive, letting you copy out individual files without restoring the whole VM, similar to browsing a backup drive.

Common Questions

How long does a full VM restore take?

It varies with disk size, but plan for anywhere from several minutes to a couple of hours for larger VMs — this is exactly why it's worth testing a restore occasionally before you actually need one, so you have a realistic time estimate.

Can I restore to a different region?

Yes, if your backup policy has cross-region restore enabled — this is worth setting up in advance if your disaster recovery plan assumes the original region might be unavailable.