Managed Disks frequently remain detached after Azure virtual machines are deleted, reimaged, or reconfigured. Some may be intentionally retained for reattachment, backup, or migration purposes, but many persist unintentionally due to the lack of automated cleanup processes. When these detached disks are also inactive—showing no read or write activity—they represent unnecessary ongoing costs. Identifying and removing these orphaned disks can produce meaningful savings without affecting any active workloads.
Managed Disks are billed based on:
Unattached disks are fully billable until explicitly deleted.
Delete inactive and detached Managed Disks that are no longer needed. If data retention is required, create a snapshot before deletion. Establish periodic reviews or automate cleanup of unused resources to reduce persistent storage costs, especially for higher‑tier disk types.
