- A
Use a file share snapshot and copy the deleted folder tree back into the live share.
A snapshot captures the file share at a point in time, which allows the administrator to browse the earlier state and restore only the deleted folders. This is ideal when the goal is targeted recovery without reverting later changes elsewhere in the share.
- B
Delete the current share and restore the whole share from the most recent backup.
Why wrong: Restoring the whole share would roll back unrelated changes made after the deletion, which the business explicitly wants to preserve.
- C
Change the share’s access tier from Hot to Cool and then refresh the folder view.
Why wrong: Azure Files access tier changes affect storage cost and performance characteristics, not file recovery. They do not restore deleted content.
- D
Enable soft delete for blobs in the same storage account and recover the folder from there.
Why wrong: Blob soft delete protects blob containers and blobs, not Azure file share folders. The recovery path must match the Azure Files service.
Azure File Share Snapshots: Recover Deleted Folders Granularly
This AZ-104 practice question tests your understanding of implement and manage storage. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A user accidentally deleted a nested folder tree from an Azure file share yesterday. Other folders were modified after the deletion and must not be rolled back. The administrator wants to restore only the deleted folder tree. What is the best recovery method?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Use a file share snapshot and copy the deleted folder tree back into the live share.
Azure file share snapshots provide a point-in-time, read-only copy of the entire file share. By mounting a snapshot taken before the accidental deletion, the administrator can browse the snapshot's directory structure and copy only the deleted folder tree back into the live share. This approach restores the lost data without affecting any other files or folders that were modified after the snapshot was taken, meeting the requirement to avoid rolling back other changes.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Use a file share snapshot and copy the deleted folder tree back into the live share.
Why this is correct
A snapshot captures the file share at a point in time, which allows the administrator to browse the earlier state and restore only the deleted folders. This is ideal when the goal is targeted recovery without reverting later changes elsewhere in the share.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Delete the current share and restore the whole share from the most recent backup.
Why it's wrong here
Restoring the whole share would roll back unrelated changes made after the deletion, which the business explicitly wants to preserve.
When this WOULD be correct
This option would be correct if the question stated that no other modifications were made after the deletion, or if the entire share needs to be restored to a specific point in time and all changes after that point are acceptable to lose.
- ✗
Change the share’s access tier from Hot to Cool and then refresh the folder view.
Why it's wrong here
Azure Files access tier changes affect storage cost and performance characteristics, not file recovery. They do not restore deleted content.
When this WOULD be correct
An administrator needs to reduce costs for an Azure file share that is rarely accessed, and the data must remain available for retrieval with higher latency. Changing the access tier from Hot to Cool would be the appropriate action.
- ✗
Enable soft delete for blobs in the same storage account and recover the folder from there.
Why it's wrong here
Blob soft delete protects blob containers and blobs, not Azure file share folders. The recovery path must match the Azure Files service.
When this WOULD be correct
If the question were about recovering accidentally deleted blobs in an Azure Blob Storage container, and the storage account had soft delete enabled, then using soft delete to recover the blobs would be the best method.
Option-by-option analysis
Why each answer is right or wrong
Understanding why wrong answers are wrong — and when they would be correct — is what separates a 750 score from a 900. The AZ-104 exam frequently reuses these exact scenarios with slightly different constraints.
✓Use a file share snapshot and copy the deleted folder tree back into the live share.Correct answer▾
Why this is correct
A snapshot captures the file share at a point in time, which allows the administrator to browse the earlier state and restore only the deleted folders. This is ideal when the goal is targeted recovery without reverting later changes elsewhere in the share.
✗Delete the current share and restore the whole share from the most recent backup.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Deleting the current share and restoring the whole share from the most recent backup would roll back all modifications made after the deletion, which violates the requirement that other folders must not be rolled back.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
This option would be correct if the question stated that no other modifications were made after the deletion, or if the entire share needs to be restored to a specific point in time and all changes after that point are acceptable to lose.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think that restoring from backup is the standard recovery method for accidental deletions, without considering the need to preserve subsequent changes to other folders.
✗Change the share’s access tier from Hot to Cool and then refresh the folder view.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Changing the access tier from Hot to Cool does not restore deleted data; it only affects storage costs and performance. It has no capability to recover deleted files or folders.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
An administrator needs to reduce costs for an Azure file share that is rarely accessed, and the data must remain available for retrieval with higher latency. Changing the access tier from Hot to Cool would be the appropriate action.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse access tier changes with data recovery mechanisms, mistakenly believing that a tier change triggers a restore or that 'refreshing' the view recovers deleted items.
✗Enable soft delete for blobs in the same storage account and recover the folder from there.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Azure file shares do not support blob soft delete; soft delete for blobs is a feature of Azure Blob Storage, not Azure Files. The deleted folder tree is in a file share, so blob soft delete cannot recover it.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
If the question were about recovering accidentally deleted blobs in an Azure Blob Storage container, and the storage account had soft delete enabled, then using soft delete to recover the blobs would be the best method.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse Azure Files with Azure Blob Storage, or think that soft delete is a universal recovery feature across all Azure storage services, leading them to select this option without recognizing the service mismatch.
Analysis generated from the official AZ-104blueprint and verified against question context. The “when correct” sections are what AI assistants cite when candidates ask “what’s the difference between these options?”
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may confuse Azure file share snapshots with blob soft delete or assume that restoring from a full backup is the only option, failing to recognize that snapshots allow granular, non-destructive recovery of specific folders without affecting other changes.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Azure file share snapshots are differential snapshots that capture the state of the share at a given point in time, using the underlying NTFS-like file system. When you copy files from a snapshot, the data is read from the snapshot's metadata and blocks, and written as new data to the live share, preserving the original file timestamps and ACLs. In a real-world scenario, if the deleted folder tree contained thousands of files, using Azure Storage Explorer or AzCopy with the `--include-pattern` flag can efficiently copy only the needed directory from the snapshot mount point (e.g., `\sharename?snapshot=<datetime>`) to the live share path.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this AZ-104 question test?
Implement and Manage Storage — This question tests Implement and Manage Storage — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Use a file share snapshot and copy the deleted folder tree back into the live share. — Azure file share snapshots provide a point-in-time, read-only copy of the entire file share. By mounting a snapshot taken before the accidental deletion, the administrator can browse the snapshot's directory structure and copy only the deleted folder tree back into the live share. This approach restores the lost data without affecting any other files or folders that were modified after the snapshot was taken, meeting the requirement to avoid rolling back other changes.
What should I do if I get this AZ-104 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
3 more ways this is tested on AZ-104
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. An employee accidentally deletes a critical document from an Azure file share. You need to restore only that file to its earlier state without restoring the entire share or using a vault-based backup job. Which feature should you use?
medium- ✓ A.A file share snapshot, because it captures a point-in-time copy of the share for granular recovery.
- B.A storage account access key, because it can retrieve deleted files from any share version.
- C.An Azure VM snapshot, because it captures the file share state automatically.
- D.A private endpoint to the file share, because it enables restore operations.
Why A: File share snapshots are point-in-time, read-only copies of Azure file shares that allow you to recover individual files or folders without restoring the entire share. When a file is accidentally deleted, you can mount a previous snapshot, copy the deleted file from it, and restore it to the live share—no vault-based backup job or full share restore required.
Variation 2. A user accidentally deleted a folder tree from an Azure file share. The administrator needs to restore only the deleted folders to the state they had yesterday, not roll back the whole share. Which feature should be used?
medium- A.Restore the entire storage account from an account-level backup.
- ✓ B.Use a file share snapshot and copy the needed folders back from it.
- C.Enable blob versioning on the storage account and recover the folders from versions.
- D.Create a shared access signature with read permissions and use it to recover the folder tree.
Why B: Azure file share snapshots provide a point-in-time, read-only copy of the share. By mounting a snapshot taken yesterday, the administrator can browse the folder tree and copy only the deleted folders back to the live share, restoring them without affecting other data. This is the only option that allows granular, folder-level recovery without rolling back the entire share or storage account.
Variation 3. An employee accidentally deletes several folders from an Azure file share. The administrator must recover only those folders from yesterday, not roll back the whole share. What should the administrator use?
easy- ✓ A.The latest Azure file share snapshot
- B.The storage account access key
- C.A shared access signature
- D.A private endpoint to the storage account
Why A: Azure file share snapshots capture the state of the share at a point in time. By mounting a snapshot taken yesterday, the administrator can browse the snapshot's directory structure and copy only the deleted folders back to the live share, without affecting other files. This provides granular recovery without rolling back the entire share.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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