| title | Automatic stop of inactive clusters in Azure Data Explorer |
|---|---|
| description | Learn when your cluster is due to stop running using the Automatic stop feature, and how to enable/disable the Automatic stop. |
| ms.reviewer | orhasban |
| ms.topic | how-to |
| ms.date | 12/08/2025 |
Azure Data Explorer clusters that are inactive for a specified time interval stop automatically. Inactivity means clusters with no data ingestion or queries in the past 5 days. The interval is fixed at 5 days and can't be changed.
Cluster behavior doesn't resume automatically. Restart the cluster manually.
Note
The following cluster types aren't stopped automatically:
- Leader clusters. For more information, see follower databases.
- Clusters deployed in a Virtual Network
- Start-for-free clusters
- Clusters where the Auto-Stop setting is turned off
Azure Data Explorer clusters are created by default with the cluster property enableAutoStop = true. You can set or change this property during or after cluster creation.
Learn more in Azure Data Explorer cluster request body.
- In the Azure portal, follow the steps in create an Azure Data Explorer cluster and database.
- In the Configurations tab, select Auto-Stop cluster > On.
:::image type="content" source="media/auto-stop-clusters/auto-stop-cluster-creation.png" alt-text="Screenshot of auto-stop configuration." :::
To enable or disable Auto-Stop cluster after the cluster is created:
- Sign in to the Azure portal.
- Go to your Azure Data Explorer cluster.
- In Settings, select Configurations.
- In the Configurations pane, select On or Off to enable or disable Auto-Stop cluster.
- Select Save.
:::image type="content" source="media/auto-stop-clusters/auto-stop-cluster-update.png" alt-text="Screenshot of auto-stop configuration in the Azure portal.":::
When a cluster is automatically stopped, an Activity log is sent. To verify when and how the cluster was stopped, use the following steps:
- Sign into the Azure portal.
- Browse to Azure Data Explorer cluster.
- In the left pane, select Activity log.
- Select a timespan.
- Under Operation name, find Stop Clusters.
:::image type="content" source="media/auto-stop-clusters/auto-stop-cluster-activity-log.png" alt-text="Screenshot of the activity log.":::
Update the cluster with this operation:
PATCH https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789098/resourceGroups/kustorgtest/providers/Microsoft.Kusto/clusters/kustoclustertest?api-version=2021-08-27{
"properties": {
"enableAutoStop": false
}
}{
"properties": {
"enableAutoStop": true
}
}