How to remove 14 day soft delete and delete backup container

Question

I stupidly followed MS instructions in how to remove resource groups etc. in order to finally remove a subscription. What it failed to mention was that in the Backup - Recovery services has kicked in with a 14-day soft delete. I have taken all my data offline so I am happy to clear out the entire container. Is there any way around this 14-day delay I now have please?

Answer 1

In Azure Backup, when you delete a backup item, it enters a soft delete state for a retention period of 14 to 180 days before it is permanently deleted. This feature is designed to protect against accidental or malicious deletions by allowing time to recover the deleted backup data if needed. Unfortunately, there is no way to bypass this 14-day soft delete period. The backup data will remain in the soft deleted state until the retention period expires, after which it will be permanently deleted.

If you want to clear out the entire container, you will need to wait until the 14-day period is over. During this time, you can still recover the soft deleted items if necessary by using the Undelete option in the Azure portal.

If you have any further questions about managing your backups or the soft delete feature, feel free to ask!