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--- title: Copy a snapshot to a new region description: Learn how to copy an incremental snapshot of a managed disk to a different region. author: roygara ms.service: azure-disk-storage ms.topic: how-to ms.date: 09/16/2026 ms.author: rogarana ms.custom: devx-track-azurepowershell, devx-track-azurecli, portal ms.devlang: azurecli # Customer intent: "As a cloud administrator, I want to copy incremental snapshots of managed disks to different regions, so that I can optimize data recovery and reduce storage costs." --- # Copy an incremental snapshot to a new region There are two options for copying an incremental snapshot across regions. The recommended option is a managed copy, which Azure performs for you. Azure stages a storage account in the target region, removing the maintenance overhead of managing the copy process. Azure copies only the changes since the last snapshot in the target region, which reduces the data footprint and recovery point objective. You can monitor the copy progress to determine when the target snapshot is ready to restore disks. For a managed copy, you're only billed for the bandwidth cost of the cross-region data transfer and the read transactions on the source snapshot. Don't delete your source snapshot while the target snapshot is being copied. The second option is a [manual copy](#manual-copy), where you get the changes between two incremental snapshots, down to the block level, and manually copy them from one region to another. Most users should use a managed copy, but if you're interested in improving the copy speed, a manual copy lets you use your compute resources to make the copy faster. This article covers copying an incremental snapshot from one region to another. See [Create an incremental snapshot for managed disks](disks-incremental-snapshots.md) for conceptual details on incremental snapshots. :::image type="content" source="media/disks-incremental-snapshots/cross-region-snapshot.png" alt-text="Diagram of Azure orchestrated cross-region copy of incremental snapshots via the clone option." lightbox="media/disks-incremental-snapshots/cross-region-snapshot.png"::: ## Restrictions - You can copy 100 incremental snapshots in parallel at the same time per subscription per region. - If you use the REST API, you must use version 2020-12-01 or newer of the Azure Compute REST API. - You can only copy one incremental snapshot of a particular disk at a time. - Snapshots must be copied in the order they were created. - Only incremental snapshots can be copied across regions. Full snapshots can't be copied across regions. ## Managed copy # [Azure CLI](#tab/azure-cli) You can use the Azure CLI to copy an incremental snapshot. You need the latest version of the Azure CLI. See the following articles to learn how to either [install](/cli/azure/install-azure-cli) or [update](/cli/azure/update-azure-cli) the Azure CLI. The following script copies an incremental snapshot from one region to another: ```azurecli subscriptionId=<yourSubscriptionID> resourceGroupName=<yourResourceGroupName> targetSnapshotName=<name> sourceSnapshotName=<name> targetRegion=<validRegion> sourceSnapshotId=$(az snapshot show -n $sourceSnapshotName -g $resourceGroupName --query [id] -o tsv) az snapshot create -g $resourceGroupName -n $targetSnapshotName -l $targetRegion --source $sourceSnapshotId --incremental --copy-start ``` ### Check snapshot copy status with Azure CLI You can check the status of the target snapshot by checking the `CompletionPercent` property. The following command checks the target snapshot specified by `$targetSnapshotName`. The value of the property must be 100 before you can use the snapshot for restoring disk or generate a SAS URI for downloading the underlying data. ```azurecli az snapshot show -n $targetSnapshotName -g $resourceGroupName --query [completionPercent] -o tsv ``` # [Azure PowerShell](#tab/azure-powershell) You can use the Azure PowerShell module to copy an incremental snapshot. You'll need the latest version of the Azure PowerShell module. The following command will either install it or update your existing installation to latest: ```PowerShell Install-Module -Name Az -AllowClobber -Scope CurrentUser ``` Once that is installed, sign in to your PowerShell session with `Connect-AzAccount`. The following script will copy an incremental snapshot from one region to another. ```azurepowershell $subscriptionId="yourSubscriptionIdHere" $resourceGroupName="yourResourceGroupNameHere" $sourceSnapshotName="yourSourceSnapshotNameHere" $targetSnapshotName="yourTargetSnapshotNameHere" $targetRegion="desiredRegion" Set-AzContext -Subscription $subscriptionId $sourceSnapshot=Get-AzSnapshot -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroupName -SnapshotName $sourceSnapshotName $snapshotconfig = New-AzSnapshotConfig -Location $targetRegion -CreateOption CopyStart -Incremental -SourceResourceId $sourceSnapshot.Id New-AzSnapshot -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroupName -SnapshotName $targetSnapshotName -Snapshot $snapshotconfig ``` ### Check snapshot copy status with Azure PowerShell You can check the `CompletionPercent` property of an individual snapshot to get its status. Replace `yourResourceGroupNameHere` and `yourSnapshotName` then run the script. The value of the property must be 100 before you can use the snapshot for restoring disk or generate a SAS URI for downloading the underlying data. ```azurepowershell $resourceGroupName = "yourResourceGroupNameHere" $snapshotName = "yourSnapshotName" $targetSnapshot=Get-AzSnapshot -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroupName -SnapshotName $snapshotName $targetSnapshot.CompletionPercent ``` # [Portal](#tab/azure-portal) You can also copy an incremental snapshot across regions in the [Azure portal](https://portal.azure.com). 1. Sign in to the [Azure portal](https://portal.azure.com) and navigate to the incremental snapshot you'd like to migrate. 1. Select **Copy snapshot**. :::image type="content" source="media/disks-incremental-snapshots/disks-copy-snapshot.png" alt-text="Screenshot of snapshot overview, copy snapshot highlighted." lightbox="media/disks-incremental-snapshots/disks-copy-snapshot.png"::: 1. For **Snapshot type** under **Instance details** select **Incremental**. 1. Change the **Region** to the region you'd like to copy the snapshot to. :::image type="content" source="media/disks-incremental-snapshots/disks-copy-snapshot-region-select.png" alt-text="Screenshot of copy snapshot experience, new region selected, incremental selected." lightbox="media/disks-incremental-snapshots/disks-copy-snapshot-region-select.png"::: 1. Select **Review + Create** and then **Create**. # [Resource Manager Template](#tab/azure-resource-manager) You can also use an Azure Resource Manager template to copy an incremental snapshot. You must use version **2020-12-01** or newer of the Azure Compute REST API. Specify the target snapshot name, source snapshot resource ID, storage SKU, and target region. After you deploy the template, check the target snapshot's `CompletionPercent` property. The value must be 100 before you can use the snapshot to restore a disk or generate a SAS URI for downloading the underlying data. The following template copies an incremental snapshot across regions: ```json { "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-04-01/deploymentTemplate.json#", "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0", "parameters": { "name": { "defaultValue": "isnapshot1", "type": "String" }, "sourceSnapshotResourceId": { "defaultValue": "<your_incremental_snapshot_resource_ID>", "type": "String" }, "skuName": { "defaultValue": "Standard_LRS", "type": "String" }, "targetRegion": { "defaultValue": "desired_region", "type": "String" } }, "variables": {}, "resources": [ { "type": "Microsoft.Compute/snapshots", "sku": { "name": "[parameters('skuName')]", "tier": "Standard" }, "name": "[parameters('name')]", "apiVersion": "2020-12-01", "location": "[parameters('targetRegion')]", "scale": null, "properties": { "creationData": { "createOption": "CopyStart", "sourceResourceId": "[parameters('sourceSnapshotResourceId')]" }, "incremental": true }, "dependsOn": [] } ] } ``` --- ## Manual copy Incremental snapshots offer a differential capability. They enable you to get the changes between two incremental snapshots of the same managed disk, down to the block level. You can use this to reduce your data footprint when copying snapshots across regions. For example, you can download the first incremental snapshot as a base blob in another region. For the subsequent incremental snapshots, you can copy only the changes since the last snapshot to the base blob. After copying the changes, you can take snapshots on the base blob that represent your point in time backup of the disk in another region. You can restore your disk either from the base blob or from a snapshot on the base blob in another region. :::image type="content" source="media/disks-copy-incremental-snapshot-across-regions/incremental-snapshot-diagram.png" alt-text="Diagram depicting incremental snapshots copied across regions. Snapshots make various API calls until eventually forming page blobs per each snapshot."::: ## Next steps If you'd like to see sample code demonstrating the differential capability of incremental snapshots, using .NET, see [Copy Azure managed disks backups to another region with differential capability of incremental snapshots](https://github.com/Azure-Samples/managed-disks-dotnet-backup-with-incremental-snapshots). If you have questions about snapshots, see the [snapshots](/azure/virtual-machines/faq-for-disks#snapshots) section of the FAQ.