Lost all of my contents after 2 years of VM being turned off

Question

Lost all of my contents after 2 years of VM being turned off

EdIntel 0

Hi,

About two years ago, I turned off my VM to reduce costs because I wasn’t sure whether the websites I was hosting in Azure would still be needed. I now need access to those websites again, so I logged in and started the VM. However, none of the websites have come back online.

I can see my subscriptions, resource groups, and storage accounts, but I cannot find the WordPress apps that were created two years ago. Is it possible that Microsoft deleted my apps and their contents due to inactivity? If so, is there any way to recover them?

For reference, although the VM was turned off, I have continued paying the monthly subscription, so my account has remained active.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. It has been very difficult to reach a live person through Microsoft support.

Thank you in advance, Ashok

Himanshu Shekhar 4,025 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-02-17T17:23:29.39+00:00

@EdIntel

Azure does not delete VM data because a VM was stopped.

When a VM is Stopped (deallocated), compute is released but OS and data disks are retained and billed, so WordPress data inside a VM is recoverable if disks still exist.

Azure does permanently delete App Service WordPress apps if the subscription is inactive and gets deleted.

If a subscription is unused for long time, it is blocked and then deleted, and all resources (Web Apps, databases, content) are permanently deleted and cannot be recovered.

Avoid unused subscriptions - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cost-management-billing/manage/avoid-unused-subscriptions

WordPress inside VM (IaaS) is recoverable if disks exist (attach disk to new VM). WordPress Azure App Service (PaaS) and subscription deleted if not recoverable.

If you have any further queries, let me know. If the information is helpful, please click on Upvote and Accept Answer on it.
EdIntel 0 Reputation points

2026-02-18T15:13:17.4166667+00:00

That makes me feel better. Thank you! My subscription has been active until today, so I would beleive that MS may have archived my contents (instead of deleting ). What steps do you suggest me taking to ensure that my wordpress sites could be restored? Thanks!
Himanshu Shekhar 4,025 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-02-19T16:56:31.86+00:00

@EdIntel Just checking if provided response was helpful! please let me know if you have any queries.

1 answer

Your answer

Himanshu Shekhar 4,025 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-02-17T17:23:29.39+00:00

@EdIntel

Azure does not delete VM data because a VM was stopped.

When a VM is Stopped (deallocated), compute is released but OS and data disks are retained and billed, so WordPress data inside a VM is recoverable if disks still exist.

Azure does permanently delete App Service WordPress apps if the subscription is inactive and gets deleted.

If a subscription is unused for long time, it is blocked and then deleted, and all resources (Web Apps, databases, content) are permanently deleted and cannot be recovered.

Avoid unused subscriptions - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cost-management-billing/manage/avoid-unused-subscriptions

WordPress inside VM (IaaS) is recoverable if disks exist (attach disk to new VM). WordPress Azure App Service (PaaS) and subscription deleted if not recoverable.

If you have any further queries, let me know. If the information is helpful, please click on Upvote and Accept Answer on it.
EdIntel 0 Reputation points

2026-02-18T15:13:17.4166667+00:00

That makes me feel better. Thank you! My subscription has been active until today, so I would beleive that MS may have archived my contents (instead of deleting ). What steps do you suggest me taking to ensure that my wordpress sites could be restored? Thanks!
Himanshu Shekhar 4,025 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-02-19T16:56:31.86+00:00

@EdIntel Just checking if provided response was helpful! please let me know if you have any queries.

Answer 1

@EdIntel

Thanks for the clarification. Since your Azure subscription has remained active, Microsoft does not archive resources.

Azure resources are either retained as-is or permanently deleted and there is no hidden or archived state.

Next steps to restore your WordPress sites

If WordPress was hosted on an Azure VM (IaaS):

Stopping or deallocating a VM does not delete data.

Start the VM and verify its current public IP/DNS.

Ensure the web server (Apache/Nginx/IIS) and database (MySQL/MariaDB) services are running.

Check NSG and firewall rules for ports 80/443.

If the VM OS is corrupted, create a new VM and attach the existing OS/data disks to recover the WordPress files and database.

If WordPress was hosted on Azure App Service (PaaS):

Check whether the App Service still exists.

If it was deleted and backups were enabled and still within the restore window, you may be able to restore it.

If the App Service and its backups were deleted, the content cannot be recovered.

Himanshu Shekhar 4,025 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-02-21T00:04:32.5733333+00:00

@EdIntel Just checking if provided response was helpful! please let me know if you have any queries. If the information is helpful, please click on Upvote and Accept Answer on it.

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Lost all of my contents after 2 years of VM being turned off

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