Use Azure Storage Explorer to manage Azure managed disks

Applies to: ✔️ Linux VMs ✔️ Windows VMs ✔️ Flexible scale sets ✔️ Uniform scale sets

Azure Storage Explorer contains a rich set of features that allows you to:

  • Upload, download, and copy managed disks.
  • Create snapshots from operating system or data disk virtual hard disk.
  • Migrate data from on-premises to Azure.
  • Migrate data across Azure regions.

Prerequisites

To complete this article, you'll need:

If you don't have an Azure subscription, create a free account before you begin.

Connect to an Azure subscription

If your Storage Explorer isn't connected to Azure, you can't use it to manage resources. Follow the steps in this section to connect Storage Explorer to your Azure account. Afterward, you can use it to manage your disks.

  1. Open Azure Storage Explorer and select the Connect icon in the toolbar.

    Screenshot of Azure Storage Explorer showing the location of the Connect icon.

  2. In the Connect to Azure Storage dialog box, select Subscription.

    Screenshot of Azure Storage Explorer highlighting the location of the Subscription option.

  3. Select the appropriate environment and select Next. You can also select Manage custom environments to configure and add a custom environment.

    Screenshot of Azure Storage Explorer highlighting the location of the Azure Environment option.

  4. In the Sign in dialog box, enter your Azure credentials.

    Screenshot of the sign-in dialog box.

  5. Select your subscription from the list and then select Open Explorer.

    Screenshot of Azure Storage Explorer highlighting the location of the Open Explorer button.

Upload an on-premises VHD

You can upload an on-premises virtual hard disk (VHD) file to Azure and use it to create an image. Follow the steps in this section to upload your source file.

  1. In the Explorer pane, expand Disks and select the resource group to which you'll upload your disk.

    Screenshot of Azure Storage Explorer highlighting the location of the Disks node for uploading a disk.

  2. In the resource group details pane, select Upload.

    Screenshot of Azure Storage Explorer highlighting the location of the Upload button.

  3. In the Upload VHD dialog box, specify your VHD source file, the name of the disk, the operating system type, the region to which you want to upload the disk, and the account type. If the region supports availability zones, you can select a zone of your choice. Select Create to begin uploading your disk.

    Screenshot of Azure Storage Explorer's Upload VHD dialog box.

  4. The status of the upload will now display in Activities.

    Screenshot of Azure Storage Explorer highlighting the location of the Activities pane containing upload status messages.

If the upload has finished and you don't see the disk in the Activities pane, select Refresh.

Download a managed disk

Follow the steps in this section to download a managed disk to an on-premises VHD. A disk's state must be Unattached before it can be downloaded.

  1. In the Explorer pane, expand Disks and select the resource group from which you'll download your disk.

    Screenshot of Azure Storage Explorer highlighting the location of the Disks node for downloading disks.

  2. In the resource group details pane, select the disk you want to download.

  3. Select Download and then choose where you would like to save the disk.

    Screenshot of Azure Storage Explorer highlighting the location of the Download button.

  4. Select Save the begin the download. The download status will display in Activities.

    Screenshot of Azure Storage Explorer highlighting the location of the Activities pane with download status messages.

Copy a managed disk

With Storage Explorer, you can copy a manged disk within or across regions. To copy a disk:

  1. In the Explorer pane, expand the Disks dropdown and select the resource group that contains the disk you want to copy.

    Screenshot of Azure Storage Explorer highlighting the location of the Disks node for copying a disk.

  2. In the resource group details pane, select the disk you'd like to copy and select Copy.

    Screenshot of Azure Storage Explorer highlighting the location of the Copy button.

  3. In the Explorer pane, expand Disks and select the resource group in which you'd like to paste the disk.

    Screenshot of Azure Storage Explorer highlighting the location of the Disks node for  pasting a disk.

  4. Select Paste in the resource group details pane.

    Screenshot of Azure Storage Explorer highlighting the location of the Paste button.

  5. In the Paste Disk dialog box, fill in the values. You can also specify an availability zone in supported regions.

    Screenshot of Azure Storage Explorer's Paste Disk form.

  6. Select Paste to begin the disk copy. The status is displayed in Activities.

    Screenshot of Azure Storage Explorer highlighting the location of the Activities pane with copy and paste status messages.

Create a snapshot

  1. In the Explorer pane, expand Disks and select the resource group that contains the disk you want to snapshot.

    Screenshot of Azure Storage Explorer highlighting the location of the Disks node for creating disk snapshots.

  2. In the resource group details pane, select the disk you'd like to snapshot and select Create Snapshot.

    Screenshot of Azure Storage Explorer highlighting the location of the Create Snapshot button.

  3. In Create Snapshot, specify the name of the snapshot and the resource group in which you'll create it. Select Create.

    Screenshot of Azure Storage Explorer's Create Snapshot dialog box.

  4. After the snapshot has been created, you can select Open in Portal in Activities to view the snapshot in the Azure portal.

    Screenshot of Azure Storage Explorer highlighting the location of the link in the Activities pane with snapshot status messages.

Next steps