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--- title: Synchronize with Azure Blob storage by using AzCopy v10 description: This article contains a collection of AzCopy example commands that help you synchronize with Azure Blob storage. author: normesta ms.service: azure-storage ms.topic: how-to ms.date: 10/28/2025 ms.author: normesta ms.subservice: storage-common-concepts ms.reviewer: dineshm # Customer intent: As a cloud storage administrator, I want to synchronize local and Azure Blob storage using AzCopy, so that I can ensure data consistency and manage storage efficiently across different environments. --- # Synchronize with Azure Blob storage by using AzCopy You can synchronize local storage with Azure Blob storage by using the AzCopy v10 command-line utility. You can synchronize the contents of a local file system with a blob container. You can also synchronize containers and virtual directories with one another. Synchronization is one way. In other words, you choose which of these two endpoints is the source and which one is the destination. Synchronization also uses server to server APIs. The examples presented in this section also work with accounts that have a hierarchical namespace. > [!NOTE] > The current release of AzCopy doesn't synchronize between other sources and destinations (for example: File storage or Amazon Web Services (AWS) S3 buckets). To see examples for other types of tasks such as uploading files, downloading blobs, or copying blobs between accounts, see the links presented in the [Next Steps](#next-steps) section of this article. ## Get started See the [Get started with AzCopy](storage-use-azcopy-v10.md) article to download AzCopy and learn about the ways that you can provide authorization credentials to the storage service. > [!NOTE] > The examples in this article assume that you provide authorization credentials by using Microsoft Entra ID. > > If you'd rather use a SAS token to authorize access to blob data, then you can append that token to the resource URL in each AzCopy command. For example: `'https://<storage-account-name>.blob.core.windows.net/<container-name><SAS-token>'`. ## Guidelines [!INCLUDE [Azcopy sync command general guidelines](../../../includes/azure-storage-azcopy-sync-guidelines.md)] - To prevent accidental deletions, make sure to enable the [soft delete](../blobs/soft-delete-blob-overview.md) feature before you use the `--delete-destination=prompt|true` flag. ## Update a container with changes to a local file system In this case, the container is the destination, and the local file system is the source. > [!TIP] > This example encloses path arguments with single quotes (''). Use single quotes in all command shells except for the Windows Command Shell (cmd.exe). If you're using a Windows Command Shell (cmd.exe), enclose path arguments with double quotes ("") instead of single quotes (''). **Syntax** `azcopy sync '<local-directory-path>' 'https://<storage-account-name>.blob.core.windows.net/<container-name>' --recursive` **Example** ```azcopy azcopy sync 'C:\myDirectory' 'https://mystorageaccount.blob.core.windows.net/mycontainer' --recursive ``` ## Update a local file system with changes to a container In this case, the local file system is the destination, and the container is the source. > [!TIP] > This example encloses path arguments with single quotes (''). Use single quotes in all command shells except for the Windows Command Shell (cmd.exe). If you're using a Windows Command Shell (cmd.exe), enclose path arguments with double quotes ("") instead of single quotes (''). **Syntax** `azcopy sync 'https://<storage-account-name>.blob.core.windows.net/<container-name>' 'C:\myDirectory' --recursive` **Example** ```azcopy azcopy sync 'https://mystorageaccount.blob.core.windows.net/mycontainer' 'C:\myDirectory' --recursive ``` ## Update a container with changes in another container The first container that appears in this command is the source. The second container is the destination. If you provide authorization credentials by using Microsoft Entra ID, make sure that you set up the proper roles in your source and destination account. See [Option 1: Use Microsoft Entra ID](storage-use-azcopy-v10.md?toc=/azure/storage/blobs/toc.json#option-1-use-azure-active-directory). > [!TIP] > This example encloses path arguments with single quotes (''). Use single quotes in all command shells except for the Windows Command Shell (cmd.exe). If you're using a Windows Command Shell (cmd.exe), enclose path arguments with double quotes ("") instead of single quotes (''). **Syntax** `azcopy sync 'https://<source-storage-account-name>.blob.core.windows.net/<container-name>/<SAS-token>' 'https://<destination-storage-account-name>.blob.core.windows.net/<container-name>' --recursive` **Example** ```azcopy azcopy sync 'https://mysourceaccount.blob.core.windows.net/mycontainer?sv=2018-03-28&ss=bfqt&srt=sco&sp=rwdlacup&se=2019-07-04T05:30:08Z&st=2019-07-03T21:30:08Z&spr=https&sig=CAfhgnc9gdGktvB=ska7bAiqIddM845yiyFwdMH481QA8%3D' 'https://mydestinationaccount.blob.core.windows.net/mycontainer' --recursive ``` ## Update a directory with changes to a directory in another container The first directory that appears in this command is the source. The second directory is the destination. If you provide authorization credentials by using Microsoft Entra ID, make sure that you set up the proper roles in your source and destination account. See [Option 1: Use Microsoft Entra ID](storage-use-azcopy-v10.md?toc=/azure/storage/blobs/toc.json#option-1-use-azure-active-directory). > [!TIP] > This example encloses path arguments with single quotes (''). Use single quotes in all command shells except for the Windows Command Shell (cmd.exe). If you're using a Windows Command Shell (cmd.exe), enclose path arguments with double quotes ("") instead of single quotes (''). **Syntax** `azcopy sync 'https://<source-storage-account-name>.blob.core.windows.net/<container-name>/<directory-name>/<SAS-token>' 'https://<destination-storage-account-name>.blob.core.windows.net/<container-name>/<directory-name>' --recursive` **Example** ```azcopy azcopy sync 'https://mysourceaccount.blob.core.windows.net/<container-name>/myDirectory?sv=2018-03-28&ss=bfqt&srt=sco&sp=rwdlacup&se=2019-07-04T05:30:08Z&st=2019-07-03T21:30:08Z&spr=https&sig=CAfhgnc9gdGktvB=ska7bAiqIddM845yiyFwdMH481QA8%3D' 'https://mydestinationaccount.blob.core.windows.net/mycontainer/myDirectory' --recursive ``` ## Update a container with changes in another container by using a SAS token The first container that appears in this command is the source. The second container is the destination. If you provide a SAS token, make sure that you use a SAS token that corresponds to the source and destination storage accounts when using **azcopy sync**. **Syntax** `azcopy sync 'https://<source-storage-account-name>.blob.core.windows.net/<container-name>/<SAS-token>' 'https://<destination-storage-account-name>.blob.core.windows.net/<container-name>/<destination-SAS-token>' --recursive` **Example** ```azcopy azcopy sync 'https://mysourceaccount.blob.core.windows.net/mycontainer?sv=2018-03-28&ss=bfqt&srt=sco&sp=rwdlacup&se=2019-07-04T05:30:08Z&st=2019-07-03T21:30:08Z&spr=https&sig=CAfhgnc9gdGktvB=ska7bAiqIddM845yiyFwdMH481QA8%3D' 'https://mydestinationaccount.blob.core.windows.net/mycontainer/?sv=2018-03-28&ss=qrdu&dst=mco&kp=rwdlapuc&se=2019-07-04T05:30:08Z&st=2019-07-03T21:31:10Z&spr=https&sig=CAfhgnc9gdGktvB=yzx9CAjMKeeN678yiyFwdNU092JC8%6D' --recursive ``` > [!TIP] > If you're copying a large amount of data, you can use [Azure Storage Explorer](https://azure.microsoft.com/products/storage/storage-explorer). > > To verify the size of the data you copied, on the top bar menu, select **More** -> **Folder Statistics** to get the details of the directory, including the size in bytes. ## Synchronize with optional flags You can tweak your sync operation by using optional flags. Here's a few examples. |Scenario|Flag| |---|---| |Specify how strictly MD5 hashes should be validated when downloading.|**--check-md5**=\[NoCheck\|LogOnly\|FailIfDifferent\|FailIfDifferentOrMissing\]| |Exclude files based on a pattern.|**--exclude-path**| |Specify how detailed you want your sync-related log entries to be.|**--log-level**=\[WARNING\|ERROR\|INFO\|NONE\]| |Specify how to copy a vhd file.|**--blob-type=BlockBlob --include-pattern "*.vhd"** or **--blob-type=BlockBlob** | For a complete list of flags, see [options](storage-ref-azcopy-sync.md#options). > [!NOTE] > The `--recursive` flag is set to `true` by default. The `--exclude-pattern` and `--include-pattern` flags apply only to file names and not to other parts of the file path. ## Next steps Find more examples in these articles: - [Examples: Upload](storage-use-azcopy-blobs-upload.md) - [Examples: Download](storage-use-azcopy-blobs-download.md) - [Examples: Copy between accounts](storage-use-azcopy-blobs-copy.md) - [Examples: Amazon S3 buckets](storage-use-azcopy-s3.md) - [Examples: Google Cloud Storage](storage-use-azcopy-google-cloud.md) - [Examples: Azure Files](storage-use-azcopy-files.md) See these articles to configure settings, optimize performance, and troubleshoot issues: - [AzCopy configuration settings](storage-ref-azcopy-configuration-settings.md) - [Optimize the performance of AzCopy](storage-use-azcopy-optimize.md) - [Find errors and resume jobs by using log and plan files in AzCopy](storage-use-azcopy-configure.md) - [Troubleshoot problems with AzCopy v10](storage-use-azcopy-troubleshoot.md)