Azure GPv1 Storage Accounts Retire on 13 October 2026: What You Need to Do Now
Microsoft is retiring Azure General Purpose v1 (GPv1) storage accounts on 13 October 2026. According to Microsoft, all GPv1 accounts must be upgraded to General Purpose v2 (GPv2) by this date to avoid service disruption. https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/storage/common/storage-account-upgrade.
Microsoft is retiring Azure General Purpose v1 (GPv1) storage accounts on 13 October 2026. All GPv1 accounts must be upgraded to General Purpose v2 (GPv2) by this date to avoid service disruption. Microsoft Learn confirms the retirement deadline and upgrade requirement.
For Azure administrators and organisations managing older environments, this is not simply a naming change. The move affects account capabilities, access-tier choices and the pricing model. Proactive migration gives teams time to review workload behaviour, estimate costs and validate automation before Microsoft performs an automatic upgrade.
| Key deadline: 13 October 2026. Microsoft states that accounts not migrated by the deadline will be automatically upgraded to GPv2 and may incur different billing costs. |
What is Azure GPv1 Storage?
General Purpose v1, or GPv1, is the original general-purpose Azure Storage account type. It supports the four core storage services: Blobs, Files, Queues and Tables, together with the classic LRS, GRS and RA-GRS redundancy options. However, GPv1 predates newer capabilities such as blob access tiering and lifecycle management. Read Microsoft’s GPv1 retirement FAQ
What changes on 13 October 2026?
Microsoft will retire GPv1 storage accounts on 13 October 2026. All affected accounts must be upgraded to GPv2 before that date. New GPv1 account creation is already blocked in the Azure portal, and Microsoft’s FAQ states that new GPv1 creation through the Azure Resource Manager API is blocked from September 2026.
Microsoft recommends GPv2 for most Azure Storage scenarios because GPv2 incorporates GPv1 functionality and provides access to newer Azure Storage features. See the GPv1 retirement overview
What happens if you do not migrate?
Microsoft states that it will automatically upgrade remaining GPv1 accounts to GPv2. Choosing not to migrate is treated as consent for Microsoft to perform that upgrade. Microsoft also warns that the change may result in higher billing costs because GPv2 uses a different pricing model.
Relying on automatic migration removes the opportunity to select the most suitable access tier and review workload costs in advance. A planned migration is therefore the safer operational approach.
Why move from GPv1 to GPv2?
- Access to newer Azure Storage functionality, including blob tiering and lifecycle management.
- Additional redundancy options, including ZRS, GZRS and RA-GZRS, alongside LRS, GRS and RA-GRS.
- Default Hot or Cool account access tiers, with blob-level Hot, Cool, Cold and Archive tiering.
- Compatibility with GPv1 functionality, allowing existing applications and tools to continue working after an in-place upgrade.
Review costs before migrating
The account upgrade operation is free, but the pricing model changes. Microsoft warns that GPv2 may have higher transactional costs for workloads generating large numbers of read and write operations, while providing lower capacity pricing and tiering flexibility. Review Microsoft’s billing-impact guidance
Before upgrading, assess storage capacity, monthly growth, read/write patterns, transaction volumes, data retrieval, redundancy, geo-replication and outbound transfer. Use Azure Monitor metrics to understand capacity, transactions, ingress and egress.
For cost modelling, use the Azure Pricing Calculator and Microsoft’s GPv1 to GPv2 Cost Estimator.
How to identify GPv1 storage accounts
In the Azure portal, GPv1 storage accounts use the account kind “Storage”. GPv2 accounts use “StorageV2”. Administrators can review Storage accounts in the Azure portal and use Azure Service Health or retirement-impact channels to identify resources associated with a targeted advisory.
For larger estates, Microsoft provides a sample Azure Policy for GPv1 detection and upgrade.
How to upgrade GPv1 to GPv2
Microsoft supports an in-place upgrade through the Azure portal, Azure PowerShell or Azure CLI. Follow the official instructions in Upgrade to a general-purpose v2 storage account.
Option 1: Azure portal
- Sign in to the Azure portal.
- Open the affected storage account.
- Under Settings, select Configuration.
- Under Account kind, select Upgrade.
- Enter the storage account name to confirm.
- Select Upgrade.
GPv1 can be upgraded to either the Hot or Cool default account access tier. If no access tier is specified, Microsoft states that the upgraded account defaults to Hot.
Option 2: Azure PowerShell
Use the current Az.Storage module. Replace the placeholders with the relevant resource group, account name and Hot or Cool access tier.
Set-AzStorageAccount `
-ResourceGroupName <resource-group> `
-Name <storage-account> `
-UpgradeToStorageV2 `
-AccessTier <Hot-or-Cool>
Option 3: Azure CLI
az storage account update \
-g <resource-group> \
-n <storage-account> \
–set kind=StorageV2 \
–access-tier=<Hot-or-Cool>
Will the upgrade cause downtime or data loss?
| Microsoft’s documented answer is no. The GPv1-to-GPv2 change is an Azure Resource Manager operation. Microsoft states that it is non-disruptive, has no associated downtime or risk of data loss, and retains endpoint names and data. |
Even so, production upgrades should follow normal change-management practices. Review infrastructure-as-code templates, pipelines, policies and scripts that define or validate the storage account kind, access tier, networking, security, redundancy, encryption, identity, data protection and tags.
Can you revert to GPv1?
No. Microsoft states that the upgrade is permanent. A GPv2 account cannot be downgraded to GPv1, which makes cost and configuration review particularly important before the change.
Important exception: Azure Databricks-managed storage accounts
The targeted Azure Service Health advisory states that customers should not manually migrate affected Azure Databricks-managed storage accounts. Microsoft will schedule and complete the managed migration for those accounts. Non-Azure Databricks GPv1 accounts require manual migration. Administrators should follow the instructions shown against their own impacted resources in Azure Service Health.
GPv1 to GPv2 migration checklist
☐ Identify accounts with account kind “Storage”.
☐ Confirm impacted resources through Azure Service Health and retirement-impact information.
☐ Check whether any affected account is managed by Azure Databricks.
☐ Review capacity, transaction, ingress and egress metrics.
☐ Estimate GPv2 costs using current workload patterns.
☐ Select the appropriate Hot or Cool default access tier.
☐ Confirm redundancy requirements.
☐ Review infrastructure-as-code, scripts, modules, pipelines and policies.
☐ Test the change through the normal non-production and change-management process.
☐ Upgrade eligible GPv1 accounts to GPv2.
☐ Validate application access, monitoring, automation and billing after the upgrade.
Final thoughts
The GPv1 retirement deadline is now here. Microsoft’s automatic upgrade path does not remove the need for planning because GPv2 pricing, access tiers and redundancy choices can affect the operational and financial outcome.
Azure teams should take control of the migration: identify GPv1 accounts, review usage and cost, validate automation, choose the appropriate configuration and complete the documented in-place upgrade. The technical change is designed to be non-disruptive, but proactive planning remains essential.
Official Microsoft references
- Upgrade to a general-purpose v2 storage account
- General Purpose v1 storage account retirement FAQ
- General Purpose v1 storage account retirement overview
- Azure Storage pricing
- GPv1 to GPv2 Cost Estimator
- Azure retirement impacted-resource channels
- Azure Retirement Workbook
- Recorded GPv1 retirement video and demonstration
