Cloud PC Move

You can move existing Windows 365 Cloud PCs to a different region or network without reprovisioning them. A move preserves the Cloud PC, including its apps, settings, and user data. You can move Cloud PCs from:

• One region to another single region.
• One Azure network connection (ANC) to another ANC.
• A Microsoft hosted network to an ANC and vice versa.

There are two ways to move Cloud PCs:

• Move device action (preview): Move one or more selected Windows 365 Enterprise Cloud PCs without changing their provisioning policy.
• Provisioning policy: Change the region or ANC in a provisioning policy, and then apply the change to existing Cloud PCs. This method supports Windows 365 Enterprise and Windows 365 Flex dedicated Cloud PCs.

Moving Cloud PCs doesn't result in reprovisioning.

Choose how to move Cloud PCs

Use the Move device action when you want to move selected Enterprise Cloud PCs without changing their provisioning policy. Use the provisioning policy method when you want to change the region or network that a policy uses and apply that change to its existing Cloud PCs.

Supported Cloud PC move scenarios

These combinations apply to both methods. Move doesn't change a Cloud PC's join type. For example, you can't move a Microsoft Entra hybrid joined Cloud PC to a Microsoft-hosted network.

What happens during a move

When a move starts:

• The Cloud PC is shut down and unavailable until the move finishes. A move can take several hours.
• Connected users can be disconnected, and unsaved work might be lost.
• Users aren't notified automatically.
• Other Cloud PC actions are blocked while the move is in progress.
• The Cloud PC keeps its join type. Its data, apps, and settings are preserved.

When the move finishes, restore points from the previous region or ANC are deleted and no longer accessible. For more information, see Move and disaster recovery.

Bulk move all Cloud PCs in a policy

1. Sign in to the Microsoft Intune admin center, select Devices > Windows 365 (under Provisioning) > Provisioning policies > select a policy.

2. Under General, select Edit.

3. Under Join type details, make changes depending on the original type:

   • For Hybrid Microsoft Entra Join, change the ANC*.

   • For Microsoft Entra Join:

     • You can change Network type from ANC to Microsoft hosted network, or vice versa.
     • If a Microsoft hosted network is used, change the Geography and/or Region.
     • If an Azure network connection is used, change the ANC*.

4. Select Next > Update.

5. When ready to move the existing Cloud PCs, select Apply this configuration.

6. In the Apply this configuration to existing Cloud PCs box, select Region or Azure network connections for all devices > Apply.

* The domain defined in the new ANC must match that of the Cloud PCs that you want to move. The domain used in the original ANC must be reachable from the new ANC.

Any new Cloud PCs provisioned after updating the policy configuration follow the updated policy configuration and are created in the new region or ANC.

Move a subset of Cloud PCs

1. Sign in to the Microsoft Intune admin center, select Devices > Windows 365 (under Provisioning) > Provisioning policies > select a policy.

2. Under General, select Edit.

3. Under Join type details, make changes depending on the original type:

   • For Hybrid Microsoft Entra Join, change the ANC*.

   • For Microsoft Entra Join:

     • You can change Network type from ANC to Microsoft hosted network, or vice versa.
     • If a Microsoft hosted network is used, change the Geography and/or Region.
     • If an Azure network connection is used, change the ANC*.

4. Select Next > Update.

5. When ready to move the existing Cloud PCs, select Apply this configuration.

6. In the Apply this configuration to existing Cloud PCs box, select Region or Azure network connections for select devices > Apply.

7. Under Select devices, select the devices that you want to move. You can move up to 100 devices at a time.

8. Choose Select > Continue.

Move Enterprise Cloud PCs by using the Move device action (preview)

Use the Move device action to move one or more selected Windows 365 Enterprise Cloud PCs to a different region or network without changing their provisioning policy or affecting other Cloud PCs in the policy. Moved Cloud PCs stay in their current provisioning policy.

The Move device action supports only Windows 365 Enterprise Cloud PCs. To move Windows 365 Flex dedicated Cloud PCs, see Move a subset of Cloud PCs.

You can start a move from:

• A Cloud PC's page.
• Bulk device actions.
• The Devices tab of a provisioning policy.

Requirements

You must have an Intune role that includes the Cloud PCs > Relocate permission. For more information, see Windows 365 role-based access.

Each Cloud PC that you move must:

• Be a Windows 365 Enterprise Cloud PC with a Provisioned status.
• Not be GPU-enabled.
• Not have another Cloud PC action in progress.
• Not have a third-party agent that Move doesn't support.

If you move Cloud PCs to an ANC, the ANC must be healthy and compatible with the join type of the Cloud PCs.

Move a single Cloud PC

1. Sign in to the Microsoft Intune admin center, and select Devices > All Cloud PCs.
2. Select the Cloud PC that you want to move.
3. Select Move.
4. Select the destination region and network.
5. Review the information, and then submit the move.

After the move completes, the Cloud PC's page shows its new region and network.

Move multiple Cloud PCs by using bulk device actions

1. Sign in to the Microsoft Intune admin center, and select Devices > All devices > Bulk device actions.
2. For OS, select Windows. For Device type, select Cloud PCs. For Device action, select Move.
3. Read the guidance on the page, and then select Next.
4. Select the Cloud PCs that you want to move. You must select at least two Cloud PCs, and you can select up to 100 in one bulk move. Move doesn't change join type, so a selection that mixes Microsoft Entra join and Microsoft Entra hybrid join Cloud PCs can fail for some of them. When possible, select Cloud PCs that have the same join type.
5. Select the destination region and network.
6. On the Review + create page, review your selections, and then select Create.

Move Cloud PCs from a provisioning policy's Devices tab

1. Sign in to the Microsoft Intune admin center, and select Devices > Provision Cloud PCs.
2. Select a provisioning policy, and then select the Devices tab.
3. Select one or more Cloud PCs.
4. Select Move, and then select the destination region and network.
5. Review the information, and then submit the move.

Monitor a move

Track the status of a move in the Cloud PC actions report. Select Devices > Monitor > Cloud PC actions. Single-device moves appear on the Devices tab, and bulk moves appear on the Bulk batches tab. To see the action status for the Cloud PCs in one policy, select the policy, and then select the Action status tab.

After a move

• The provisioning policy and the settings it uses for new Cloud PCs don't change. A Cloud PC that you move can have a different region or network than its provisioning policy specifies.
• If you reprovision a Cloud PC after you move it, the Cloud PC is reprovisioned based on the region and network in its provisioning policy, so it can return to its previous location. Review the policy before you reprovision a Cloud PC that you moved. To change a Cloud PC's region or network, use Move.
• A move can show as completed before the Cloud PC is connectable. Before you tell users that the move is finished, confirm that the Cloud PC is available and that a user can connect.
• Users might need to refresh their workspace in Windows App to reconnect to the Cloud PC after a move.

Considerations

• Move doesn't change a Cloud PC's join type or provisioning policy.
• Move doesn't support scheduling or maintenance windows.
• To move Cloud PCs to a different virtual network or subnet, create an ANC that uses that network or subnet, and then move the Cloud PCs to the ANC.

Troubleshooting

Move and resiliency

Move gives you a planned way to change where Cloud PCs run without reprovisioning them or losing user data. For example, you can use Move to:

• Respond to capacity constraints in a region by moving Cloud PCs to another supported region.
• Move Cloud PCs off a network that you're retiring or migrating, by moving them to a different ANC or to a Microsoft hosted network.
• Place Cloud PCs closer to users when users relocate or when latency is a concern.

Move is an administrator-initiated action. It doesn't automatically fail over Cloud PCs when a region has an outage. To help protect against unplanned regional outages, use cross region disaster recovery or disaster recovery plus.

To reduce the impact of a move on your users, see Best practices.

Move and disaster recovery

Move and disaster recovery serve different purposes. Use Move for planned changes, such as permanently relocating Cloud PCs. Use cross region disaster recovery or disaster recovery plus to keep users productive during an unplanned regional outage. Cross region disaster recovery isn't intended for planned or permanent region changes. For an overview of your options, see Microsoft Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BCDR) with Windows 365.

Moving a Cloud PC doesn't conflict with disaster recovery, but a move affects the recovery points for that Cloud PC:

• Restore points: Restore points stored in the Cloud PC's previous region or ANC are deleted after the move. You can't restore the Cloud PC to a point in time before the move.
• Disaster recovery snapshots: While a Cloud PC is being moved, a scheduled disaster recovery snapshot of that Cloud PC might be missed. If you need to recover the Cloud PC during that time, the most recent recovery point might be older than usual.
• Other actions: Other Cloud PC actions are blocked while a move is in progress, and you can't move a Cloud PC while another action is in progress. Wait for a restore or disaster recovery operation to finish before you start a move.

Best practices

The best time to perform moves is over a maintenance window or general period of down time to make sure the impact to users is minimized. Cloud PCs are shut down and inaccessible for up to several hours during the move process. You should notify your users before the move so that they can save their work and sign out.

When moving many devices to a new region, start with a few noncritical Cloud PCs and check for success before moving the critical Cloud PCs.

You can track the status of moving Cloud PCs with the Cloud PC actions report.

New Cloud PCs created by the edited provisioning policy are assigned to the new region or ANC.

Other move operations

Cloud PCs can't be moved from one provisioning policy to another.

You can't move some Cloud PCs to one region and other Cloud PCs to another region in the same policy edit operation.

You can't move Cloud PCs from one virtual network or subnet to another using the edit provisioning policy method. To make VNet/subnet changes, create a new ANC with the updated vNet/subnet and then move the Cloud PCs to the new ANC.

Next steps

• Manage your Cloud PCs
• Cross region disaster recovery in Windows 365
• Windows 365 disaster recovery plus
• Microsoft Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BCDR) with Windows 365
• Network requirements for Windows 365