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In this guide you’ll learn how to back up an Azure App Service so you can recover your application after catastrophic failures. Backups capture the app configuration, file contents, and any connected databases. You can create backups manually or schedule them to run automatically. Key points:
  • Backup size limit: up to 10 GB per backup (app + database).
  • Backups are stored in an Azure Storage account that you choose.
  • Restore options: restore an existing app to a previous restore point or create a new web app from a backup.
App Service backup and restore features are available on Standard and higher App Service plans.

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What is included in an App Service backup

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Backup types

  • Manual backups: Trigger a single backup immediately from the Azure portal, CLI, or script.
  • Scheduled (custom) backups: Define a recurring schedule and retention policy. You select the target storage account and container where backups are stored.
Use scheduled backups when you need consistent retention, compliance, or a custom frequency beyond the default automatic options.

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Storage and retention

Backups are stored in an Azure Storage account you specify. For scheduled backups you must provide:
  • Storage account
  • Container name
  • Backup schedule (frequency)
  • Retention policy (how many restore points to keep)
Ensure the chosen storage account has sufficient capacity and proper access control (SAS or storage keys) so the App Service can write backups.

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Configure backups in the Azure portal

To configure backups using the portal:
  1. Open your App Service in the Azure portal.
  2. In the left-hand menu, select Backups.
  3. Select the storage account and container to store backups.
  4. Choose between triggering a manual backup or configuring a custom schedule and retention policy.
  5. View and manage available restore points from the Backups blade.
A screenshot of the Microsoft Azure portal showing the "kodekloudemoapp | Backups" page with automatic backups scheduled every hour and a right-side pane for configuring custom backups. It lists two successful backup entries and includes form fields to select a storage account and container.
In the screenshot above the portal shows automatic hourly backups already configured by Azure. You can restore your app from any of these restore points. If you require a specific schedule or retention policy, configure a custom backup and specify the storage account and container where backups will be saved.

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Restore options

You have two primary restore options:
  • Restore an existing App Service to a selected restore point (overwrites the existing app).
  • Create a new App Service from a backup (useful for testing restores or creating a copy of the app).
From the Backups blade you can select a restore point and choose the appropriate action. Review settings carefully before restoring to avoid accidental data loss.

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Quick CLI examples

Trigger a backup using the Azure CLI (replace placeholders wrapped in backticks):
List available backups (example):
Restore a backup (example):
Always test your restore procedures in a non-production environment to validate that backups and restores behave as expected.

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Best practices

  • Use Standard or higher App Service plans to access built-in backup features.
  • Configure scheduled backups with a retention policy that meets your recovery and compliance requirements.
  • Store backups in a dedicated storage account and secure it using RBAC and SAS tokens.
  • Monitor backup jobs regularly and test restores periodically.
Setting up CI/CD and deployment pipelines for the App Service is beyond the scope of this article. For pipeline-related backup integration, consider automating the CLI commands shown above in your pipeline scripts.

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