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Overview

Microsoft Azure Storage Explorer is a standalone app that makes it easy to work with Azure Storage data on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

In this article, you'll learn several ways of connecting to and managing your Azure storage accounts.

Storage

Prerequisites

The following versions of Windows support Storage Explorer:

  • Windows 10 (recommended)
  • Windows 8
  • Windows 7

For all versions of Windows, Storage Explorer requires .NET Framework 4.7.2 at a minimum.

The following versions of macOS support Storage Explorer:

  • macOS 10.12 Sierra and later versions

Storage Explorer is available in the Snap Store for most common distributions of Linux. We recommend Snap Store for this installation. The Storage Explorer snap installs all of its dependencies and updates when new versions are published to the Snap Store.

For supported distributions, see the snapd installation page.

Storage Explorer requires the use of a password manager. You might have to connect to a password manager manually. You can connect Storage Explorer to your system's password manager by running the following command:

Storage Explorer is also available as a .tar.gz download. If you use the .tar.gz, you must install dependencies manually. The following distributions of Linux support .tar.gz installation:

  • Ubuntu 20.04 x64
  • Ubuntu 18.04 x64
  • Ubuntu 16.04 x64

The .tar.gz installation might work on other distributions, but only these listed ones are officially supported.

Download Microsoft Storage ExplorerDownload

For more help installing Storage Explorer on Linux, see Linux dependencies in the Azure Storage Explorer troubleshooting guide.

Download and install

To download and install Storage Explorer, see Azure Storage Explorer.

Connect to a storage account or service

Storage Explorer provides several ways to connect to Azure resources:

Sign in to Azure

Note

To fully access resources after you sign in, Storage Explorer requires both management (Azure Resource Manager) and data layer permissions. This means that you need Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) permissions to access your storage account, the containers in the account, and the data in the containers. If you have permissions only at the data layer, consider choosing the Sign in using Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) option when attaching to a resource. For more information about the specific permissions Storage Explorer requires, see the Azure Storage Explorer troubleshooting guide.

  1. In Storage Explorer, select View > Account Management or select the Manage Accounts button.

  2. ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT now displays all the Azure accounts you're signed in to. To connect to another account, select Add an account....

  3. The Connect to Azure Storage dialog opens. In the Select Resource panel, select Subscription.

  4. In the Select Azure Environment panel, select an Azure environment to sign in to. You can sign in to global Azure, a national cloud or an Azure Stack instance. Then select Next.

    Tip

    For more information about Azure Stack, see Connect Storage Explorer to an Azure Stack subscription or storage account.

  5. Storage Explorer will open a webpage for you to sign in.

  6. After you successfully sign in with an Azure account, the account and the Azure subscriptions associated with that account appear under ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT. Select the Azure subscriptions that you want to work with, and then select Apply.

  7. EXPLORER displays the storage accounts associated with the selected Azure subscriptions.

Attach to an individual resource

Storage Explorer lets you connect to individual resources, such as an Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 container, using various authentication methods. Some authentication methods are only supported for certain resource types.

Resource typeAzure ADAccount Name and KeyShared Access Signature (SAS)Public (anonymous)
Storage accountsYesYesYes (connection string or URL)No
Blob containersYesNoYes (URL)Yes
Gen2 containersYesNoYes (URL)Yes
Gen2 directoriesYesNoYes (URL)Yes
File sharesNoNoYes (URL)No
QueuesYesNoYes (URL)No
TablesNoNoYes (URL)No

Storage Explorer can also connect to a local storage emulator using the emulator's configured ports.

To connect to an individual resource, select the Connect button in the left-hand toolbar. Then follow the instructions for the resource type you want to connect to.

When a connection to a storage account is successfully added, a new tree node will appear under Local & Attached > Storage Accounts.

For other resource types, a new node is added under Local & Attached > Storage Accounts > (Attached Containers). The node will appear under a group node matching its type. For example, a new connection to an Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 container will appear under Blob Containers.

If Storage Explorer couldn't add your connection, or if you can't access your data after successfully adding the connection, see the Azure Storage Explorer troubleshooting guide.

The following sections describe the different authentication methods you can use to connect to individual resources.

Azure AD

Storage Explorer can use your Azure account to connect to the following resource types:

  • Blob containers
  • Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 containers
  • Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 directories
  • Queues

Azure AD is the preferred option if you have data layer access to your resource but no management layer access.

  1. Sign in to at least one Azure account using the steps described above.
  2. In the Select Resource panel of the Connect to Azure Storage dialog, select Blob container, ADLS Gen2 container, or Queue.
  3. Select Sign in using Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) and select Next.
  4. Select an Azure account and tenant. The account and tenant must have access to the Storage resource you want to attach to. Select Next.
  5. Enter a display name for your connection and the URL of the resource. Select Next.
  6. Review your connection information in the Summary panel. If the connection information is correct, select Connect.

Account name and key

Storage Explorer can connect to a storage account using the storage account's name and key.

Explorer

You can find your account keys in the Azure portal. Open your storage account page and select Settings > Access keys.

  1. In the Select Resource panel of the Connect to Azure Storage dialog, select Storage account.
  2. Select Account name and key and select Next.
  3. Enter a display name for your connection, the name of the account, and one of the account keys. Select the appropriate Azure environment. Select Next.
  4. Review your connection information in the Summary panel. If the connection information is correct, select Connect.

Shared access signature (SAS) connection string

Storage Explorer can connect to a storage account using a connection string with a Shared Access Signature (SAS). A SAS connection string looks like this:

  1. In the Select Resource panel of the Connect to Azure Storage dialog, select Storage account.
  2. Select Shared access signature (SAS) and select Next.
  3. Enter a display name for your connection and the SAS connection string for the storage account. Select Next.
  4. Review your connection information in the Summary panel. If the connection information is correct, select Connect.

Shared access signature (SAS) URL

Storage Explorer can connect to the following resource types using a SAS URI:

  • Blob container
  • Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 container or directory
  • File share
  • Queue
  • Table

A SAS URI looks like this:

  1. In the Select Resource panel of the Connect to Azure Storage dialog, select the resource you want to connect to.
  2. Select Shared access signature (SAS) and select Next.
  3. Enter a display name for your connection and the SAS URI for the resource. Select Next.
  4. Review your connection information in the Summary panel. If the connection information is correct, select Connect.

Local storage emulator

Storage Explorer can connect to an Azure Storage emulator. Currently, there are two supported emulators:

  • Azure Storage Emulator (Windows only)
  • Azurite (Windows, macOS, or Linux)

If your emulator is listening on the default ports, you can use the Local & Attached > Storage Accounts > Emulator - Default Ports node to access your emulator.

If you want to use a different name for your connection, or if your emulator isn't running on the default ports:

  1. Start your emulator.

    Important

    Storage Explorer doesn't automatically start your emulator. You must start it manually.

  2. In the Select Resource panel of the Connect to Azure Storage dialog, select Local storage emulator.

  3. Enter a display name for your connection and the port number for each emulated service you want to use. If you don't want to use to a service, leave the corresponding port blank. Select Next.

  4. Review your connection information in the Summary panel. If the connection information is correct, select Connect.

Connect to Azure Cosmos DB

Storage Explorer also supports connecting to Azure Cosmos DB resources.

Azure File Explorer Download

Connect to an Azure Cosmos DB account by using a connection string

Instead of managing Azure Cosmos DB accounts through an Azure subscription, you can connect to Azure Cosmos DB by using a connection string. To connect, follow these steps:

  1. Under EXPLORER, expand Local & Attached, right-click Cosmos DB Accounts, and select Connect to Azure Cosmos DB.

  2. Select the Azure Cosmos DB API, enter your Connection String data, and then select OK to connect the Azure Cosmos DB account. For information about how to retrieve the connection string, see Manage an Azure Cosmos account.

Connect to Azure Data Lake Store by URI

You can access a resource that's not in your subscription. You need someone who has access to that resource to give you the resource URI. After you sign in, connect to Data Lake Store by using the URI. To connect, follow these steps:

  1. Under EXPLORER, expand Local & Attached.

  2. Right-click Data Lake Storage Gen1, and select Connect to Data Lake Storage Gen1.

  3. Enter the URI, and then select OK. Your Data Lake Store appears under Data Lake Storage.

This example uses Data Lake Storage Gen1. Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 is now available. For more information, see What is Azure Data Lake Storage Gen1.

Generate a shared access signature in Storage Explorer

Download Microsoft Storage Explorer Tool

Account level shared access signature

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  1. Right-click the storage account you want share, and then select Get Shared Access Signature.

  2. In Shared Access Signature, specify the time frame and permissions you want for the account, and then select Create.

  3. Copy either the Connection string or the raw Query string to your clipboard.

Service level shared access signature

You can get a shared access signature at the service level. For more information, see Get the SAS for a blob container.

Search for storage accounts

To find a storage resource, you can search in the EXPLORER pane.

As you enter text in the search box, Storage Explorer displays all resources that match the search value you've entered up to that point. This example shows a search for endpoints:

Note

To speed up your search, use Account Management to deselect any subscriptions that don't contain the item you're searching for. You can also right-click a node and select Search From Here to start searching from a specific node.

Next steps

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Storage Explorer 1.10.0 enables users to upload, download, and copy managed disks, as well as create snapshots. Because of these additional capabilities, you can use Storage Explorer to migrate data from on-premises to Azure, and migrate data across Azure regions.

Download Microsoft Storage Explorer

Prerequisites

To complete this article, you'll need the following:

  • An Azure subscription
  • One or more Azure managed disks
  • The latest version of Azure Storage Explorer

Connect to an Azure subscription

If your Storage Explorer isn't connected to Azure, you will not be able to use it to manage resources. This section goes over connecting it to your Azure account so that you can manage resources using Storage Explorer.

  1. Launch Azure Storage Explorer and click the plug-in icon on the left.

  2. Select Add an Azure Account, and then click Next.

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

  4. Select your subscription from the list and then click Apply.

Upload a managed disk from an on-prem VHD

  1. On the left pane, expand Disks and select the resource group that you want to upload your disk to.

  2. Select Upload.

  3. In Upload VHD specify your source VHD, the name of the disk, the OS type, the region you want to upload the disk to, as well as the account type. In some regions Availability zones are supported, for those regions you can select a zone of your choice.

  4. Select Create to begin uploading your disk.

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

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

Download a managed disk

The following steps explain how to download a managed disk to an on-prem VHD. A disk's state must be Unattached in order to be downloaded, you cannot download an Attached disk.

  1. On the left pane, if it isn't already expanded, expand Disks and select the resource group that you want to download your disk from.

  2. On the right pane, select the disk you want to download.

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

  4. Select Save and your disk will begin downloading. The status of the download will display in Activities.

Copy a managed disk

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

  1. From the Disks dropdown on the left, select the resource group that contains the disk you want to copy.

  2. On the right pane, select the disk you'd like to copy and select Copy.

  3. On the left pane, select the resource group you'd like to paste the disk in.

  4. Select Paste on the right pane.

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

  6. Select Paste and your disk will begin copying, the status is displayed in Activities.

Microsoft Azure Explorer

Create a snapshot

  1. From the Disks dropdown on the left, select the resource group that contains the disk you want to snapshot.

  2. On the right, select the disk you'd like to snapshot and select Create Snapshot.

  3. In Create Snapshot, specify the name of the snapshot as well as the resource group you want to create it in. Then select Create.

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

Next steps

Learn how to Create a VM from a VHD by using the Azure portal.

Learn how to Attach a managed data disk to a Windows VM by using the Azure portal.