---
title: "Exporting Disks"
description: "Veeam Backup & Replication allows you to export disks, that is, convert disks of different workloads (EC2 instances, Microsoft Azure VMs and so on) in the VMDK, VHD or VHDX formats."
canonical: "https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/vbr/qsg/exporting_disks.html"
breadcrumb: "Quick Start Guide > Data Recovery > Exporting Disks"
dateModified: "2026-10-21"
---

# Exporting Disks

Veeam Backup & Replication allows you to export disks, that is, convert disks of different workloads (EC2 instances, Microsoft Azure VMs and so on) in the VMDK, VHD or VHDX formats. You can save the exported disks to any server added to the backup infrastructure or place disks on a datastore connected to a host.

## Before You Begin

Before you export content as virtual disks, consider the following:

- You can export disks from a backup that has at least one successfully created restore point.

  To check whether restore points are created, open the inventory pane of the **Home** view and select the **Backups** node. Then, expand the backup job and verify that there is at least one restore point available for the VM.

- If you export disks to an ESXi datastore, VMDK format is the only available option.

## Exporting Disks

To export disks from backups and convert them into VMDK format for Microsoft Hyper-V VMs or VHD/VHDX format for VMware vSphere VMs, do the following:

1. Open the **Home** view.
2. In the inventory pane, select the **Backups** > **Disk** node. Expand the backup job in the working area, right-click a VM and select **Export content as virtual disks** to launch the **Export Disk** wizard.

   [![](images/vm_export_disk_launch.png)](images/vm_export_disk_launch.png){.toggle scale=75}

3. At the **Restore Point** step of the wizard, select a restore point.

   ![](images/disk_export_rp.png)

4. At the **Disks** step of the wizard, select which disks you want to export.
5. At the **Target** step of the wizard, select the destination for disk export and format in which you want to save the resulting virtual disks: 

   1. From the **Server** list, select a server on which the resulting virtual disks must be saved.
   2. In the **Path to folder** field, specify a datastore or folder on the server where the virtual disks must be placed.
   3. In the **Export format** list, select VMDK format to save the resulting virtual disk in the VMware vSphere compatible format. Select VHD/VHDX format to save the resulting virtual disk in the Microsoft Hyper-V VHD/VHDX format.
   4. From the **Disk Type** drop-down list, select a disk type for the exported disks.

      [For Microsoft Hyper-V] Disk type selection for VMDK format is available when the disk is exported to an ESXi host, in all other cases it is **Thick (lazy)** type by default.

   ![](images/disk_export_disks_type.png)

6. At the **Secure Restore** step of the wizard, you can instruct Veeam Backup & Replication to perform secure restore — scan exported disk data with antivirus software before restoring the disk. For more information on secure restore, see [Secure Restore](https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/vbr/userguide/av_scan_about.html?ver=13).

   ![](images/disk_export_av.png)

7. At the **Reason** step of the wizard, enter a reason for disk export.
8. At the **Summary** step of the wizard, review the configured settings and click **Finish**.

## Reference

For more information on exporting disks, see the [Exporting Disks](https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/vbr/userguide/exporting_disks.html?ver=13) section in the Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide.