Manage Azure portal settings and preferences
You can change the default settings of the Azure portal to meet your own preferences.
Most settings are available from the Settings menu in the top right section of global page header.
Directories + subscriptions
The Directories + subscriptions page lets you manage directories and set subscription filters.
Switch and manage directories
In the Directories section, you'll see your Current directory (which you're currently signed in to).
The Startup directory shows the default directory when you sign in to the Azure portal. To choose a different startup directory, select change to go to the Appearance + startup views page, where you can change this option.
To see a full list of directories to which you have access, select All Directories.
To mark a directory as a favorite, select its star icon. Those directories will be listed in the Favorites section.
To switch to a different directory, select the directory that you want to work in, then select the Switch button in its row.
Subscription filters
You can choose the subscriptions that are filtered by default when you sign in to the Azure portal. This can be helpful if you have a primary list of subscriptions you work with but use others occasionally.
Important
After you apply a subscription filter in the Azure portal settings page, you will only see subscriptions that match the filter across all portal experiences. You won't be able to work with other subscriptions that are excluded from the selected filter. Any new subscriptions that are created after the filter was applied may not be shown if the filter criteria don't match. To see them, you must update the filter criteria to include other subscriptions in the portal, or select Advanced filters and use the Default filter to always show all subscriptions.
Certain features, such as Management groups or Security Center, may show subscriptions that don't match your filter criteria. However, you won't be able to perform operations on those subscriptions (such as moving a subscription between management groups) unless you adjust your filters to include the subscriptions that you want to work with.
To use customized filters, select Advanced filters. You'll be prompted to confirm before continuing.
This will enable the Advanced filters page, where you can create and manage multiple subscription filters. Any currently selected subscriptions will be saved as an imported filter that you can use again. If you want to stop using advanced filters, select the toggle again to restore the default subscription view. Any custom filters you've created will be saved and will be available to use if you enable Advanced filters in the future.
Advanced filters
After enabling the Advanced filters page, you can create, modify, or delete subscription filters.
The Default filter shows all subscriptions to which you have access. This filter is used if there are no other filters, or when the active filter fails to include any subscriptions.
You may also see a filter named Imported-filter, which includes all subscriptions that had been selected previously.
To change the filter that is currently in use, select that filter from the Advanced filter drop-down box. You can also select Modify advanced filters to go to the Advanced filters page, where you can create, modify, and delete your filters.
Create a filter
To create a new filter, select Create a filter. You can create up to ten filters.
Each filter must have a unique name that is between 8 and 50 characters long and contains only letters, numbers, and hyphens.
After you've named your filter, enter at least one condition. In the Filter type field, select either Subscription name, Subscription ID, or Subscription state. Then select an operator and enter a value to filter on.
When you're finished adding conditions, select Create. Your filter will then appear in the list in Active filters.
Modify or delete a filter
You can modify or rename an existing filter by selecting the pencil icon in that filter's row. Make your changes, and then select Apply.
Note
If you modify a filter that is currently active, and the changes result in 0 subscriptions, the Default filter will become active instead. You can't activate a filter which doesn't include any subscriptions.
To delete a filter, select the trash can icon in that filter's row. You can't delete the Default filter or any filter that is currently active.
Appearance + startup views
The Appearance + startup views pane has two sections. The Appearance section lets you choose menu behavior, your color theme, and whether to use a high-contrast theme, and the Startup views section lets you set options for what you see when you first sign in to the Azure portal.
Set menu behavior
The Menu behavior section lets you choose how the default Azure portal menu behaves.
- Flyout: The menu will be hidden until you need it. You can select the menu icon in the upper left hand corner to open or close the menu.
- Docked: The menu will always be visible. You can collapse the menu to provide more working space.
Choose a theme or enable high contrast
The theme that you choose affects the background and font colors that appear in the Azure portal. In the Theme section, you can select from one of four preset color themes. Select each thumbnail to find the theme that best suits you.
Alternatively, you can choose a theme from the High contrast theme section. These themes can make the Azure portal easier to read, especially if you have a visual impairment. Selecting either the white or black high-contrast theme will override any other theme selections.
Focus navigation
Choose whether or not to enable focus navigation.
If enabled, only one screen at a time will be visible as you step through a process in the portal. If disabled, as you move through the steps of a process, you'll be able to move between them through a horizontal scroll bar.
Startup page
Choose one of the following options for the page you'll see when you first sign in to the Azure portal.
- Home: Displays the home page, with shortcuts to popular Azure services, a list of resources you've used most recently, and useful links to tools, documentation, and more.
- Dashboard: Displays your most recently used dashboard. Dashboards can be customized to create a workspace designed just for you. For example, you can build a dashboard that is project, task, or role focused. For more information, see Create and share dashboards in the Azure portal.
Startup directory
Choose one of the following options for the directory to work in when you first sign in to the Azure portal.
- Sign in to your last visited directory: When you sign in to the Azure portal, you'll start in whichever directory you'd been working in last time.
- Select a directory: Choose this option to select one of your directories. You'll start in that directory every time you sign in to the Azure portal, even if you had been working in a different directory last time.
Language + region
Choose your language and the regional format that will influence how data such as dates and currency will appear in the Azure portal.
Note
These language and regional settings affect only the Azure portal. Documentation links that open in a new tab or window use your browser's settings to determine the language to display.
Language
Use the drop-down list to select from the list of available languages. This setting controls the language you see for text throughout the Azure portal. Azure portal supports the following 18 languages in addition to English: Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Czech, Dutch, French, German, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish.
Regional format
Select an option to control the way dates, time, numbers, and currency are shown in the Azure portal.
The options shown in the Regional format drop-down list changes based on the option you selected for Language. For example, if you select English as your language, and then select English (United States) as the regional format, currency is shown in U.S. dollars. If you select English as your language and then select English (Europe) as the regional format, currency is shown in euros.
Select Apply to update your language and regional format settings.
My information
The My information page lets you update the email address that is used for updates on Azure services, billing, support, or security issues. You can also opt in or out from additional emails about Microsoft Azure and other products and services.
Near the top of the My information page, you'll see options to export, restore, or delete settings.
Export user settings
Information about your custom settings is stored in Azure. You can export the following user data:
- Private dashboards in the Azure portal
- User settings like favorite subscriptions or directories
- Themes and other custom portal settings
To export your portal settings, select Export settings from the top of the My information pane. This creates a .json file that contains your user settings data.
Due to the dynamic nature of user settings and risk of data corruption, you can't import settings from the .json file. However, you can use this file to review the settings you selected. It can be useful to have a backup of your selections if you choose to delete your settings and private dashboards.
Restore default settings
If you've made changes to the Azure portal settings and want to discard them, select Restore default settings from the top of the My information pane. You'll be prompted to confirm this action. When you do so, any changes you've made to your Azure portal settings will be lost. This option doesn't affect dashboard customizations.
Delete user settings and dashboards
Information about your custom settings is stored in Azure. You can delete the following user data:
- Private dashboards in the Azure portal
- User settings like favorite subscriptions or directories
- Themes and other custom portal settings
It's a good idea to export and review your settings before you delete them, as described above. Rebuilding dashboards or redoing custom settings can be time-consuming.
Note
This article provides steps about how to delete personal data from the device or service and can be used to support your obligations under the GDPR. For general information about GDPR, see the GDPR section of the Microsoft Trust Center and the GDPR section of the Service Trust portal.
To delete your portal settings, select Delete all settings and private dashboards from the top of the My information page. You'll be prompted to confirm the deletion. When you do so, all settings customizations will return to the default settings, and all of your private dashboards will be lost.
Signing out + notifications
This pane lets you manage pop-up notifications and session timeouts.
Signing out
The inactivity timeout setting helps to protect resources from unauthorized access if you forget to secure your workstation. After you've been idle for a while, you're automatically signed out of your Azure portal session. As an individual, you can change the timeout setting for yourself. If you're an admin, you can set it at the directory level for all your users in the directory.
Change your individual timeout setting (user)
In the drop-down menu next to Sign me out when inactive, choose the duration after which your Azure portal session is signed out if you're idle.
Select Apply to save your changes. After that, if you're inactive during the portal session, Azure portal will sign out after the duration you set.
If your admin has enabled an inactivity timeout policy, you can still set your own, as long as it's shorter than the directory-level setting. To do so, select Override the directory inactivity timeout policy, then enter a time interval for the Override value.
Change the directory timeout setting (admin)
Admins in the Global Administrator role can enforce the maximum idle time before a session is signed out. This inactivity timeout setting applies at the directory level. The setting takes effect for new sessions. It won't apply immediately to any users who are already signed in. For more information about directories, see Active Directory Domain Services Overview.
If you're a Global Administrator, and you want to enforce an idle timeout setting for all users of the Azure portal, select Enable directory level idle timeout to turn on the setting. Next, enter the Hours and Minutes for the maximum time that a user can be inactive before their session is automatically signed out. After you select Apply, this setting will apply to all users in the directory.
To confirm that the inactivity timeout policy is set correctly, select Notifications from the global page header and verify that a success notification is listed.
Enable or disable pop-up notifications
Notifications are system messages related to your current session. They provide information such as showing your current credit balance, confirming your last action, or letting you know when resources you created become available. When pop-up notifications are turned on, the messages briefly display in the top corner of your screen.
To enable or disable pop-up notifications, select or clear Enable pop-up notifications.
To read all notifications received during your current session, select Notifications from the global header.
To view notifications from previous sessions, look for events in the Activity log. For more information, see View the Activity log.
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