Releases: microsoft/AzureStorageExplorer
v1.41.1
February 2026 (Version 1.41.1, build 20260214.2)
Welcome to Storage Explorer version 1.41.1. This version updates the bundled version of .NET to 8.0.24 and addresses these issues.
Version 1.41.1 includes all features, improvements, and bug fixes from 1.41.0, which completes support for NFS files and brings improvements to Azurite container support. For a detailed list of all issues closed in 1.41.0, visit our Issues page.
v1.41.0
January 2026 (Version 1.41.0, build 20260130.7)
Welcome to Storage Explorer version 1.41.0. This version completes support for NFS files and brings improvements to Azurite container support.
For a detailed list of all issues closed, visit our Issues page.
NFS File Share Support
This version of Storage Explorer includes AzCopy 10.31, which enhances support for NFS file shares. In addition to features introduced in version 1.40.0, you can now:
- Transfer files and directories between NFS and SMB file shares.
- Preserve symlinks when transferring files (symlinks remain percent encoded when downloaded, see #8841).
- View POSIX properties for files and directories in the Properties dialog.
Azurite Instances in Docker and Podman Containers
Version 1.36.0 introduced support for automatically detecting and connecting to Azurite instances running in local Docker containers. Version 1.41.0 extends this support to include Podman containers.
Configuring Azurite Communication Channels
To add support for both Docker and Podman, Storage Explorer now detects Azurite containers differently. Instead of invoking the Docker or Podman CLI, Storage Explorer communicates directly with the Docker and Podman engines via their named pipes (Windows) or Unix domain sockets (Linux and macOS).
By default, Storage Explorer looks in the following locations for these communication channels:
| Platform | Locations |
|---|---|
| Windows | \\.pipe\docker_engine |
| \\.pipe\podman-machine-default | |
| macOS | /var/run/docker.sock |
| Linux | /var/run/docker.sock |
| ~/.docker/run/docker.sock |
For custom setups, you can add or modify locations using the new Azurite Communication Channels setting (services.storageAccounts.containerSocketPaths).
Linux Snap Support
For Linux snap users, the Docker snap dependency has been removed. You no longer need to have the Docker snap installed for this feature to work.
The snap sandbox environment prevents Storage Explorer from accessing system files. You can work around this by opening a socket that forwards communications to the Docker or Podman engine using socat:
- Verify the location of the container engine socket (for example, /var/run/docker.sock).
- Create a forwarding socket within an accessible location, such as your home directory:
socat UNIX-LISTEN:$HOME/docker.sock,fork UNIX-CONNECT:/var/run/docker.sock &
- Launch Storage Explorer.
- Modify the Azurite Communication Channels setting to include the absolute path to the forwarding socket (in this case, /home/<username>/docker.sock).
- Refresh the Emulators & Attached node.
Note:
- The forwarding socket must be opened in a location that Storage Explorer can access, such as your home directory.
- The forwarding socket must not be a hidden file (that is, its name can't start with a dot).
- You must enter an absolute path to the forwarding socket for the Azurite Communication Channels setting. You can't use expanding shell characters, such as "~".
- If you terminate the background process launched by
socat, Storage Explorer won't be able to communicate with the container engines to find Azurite instances.
Improvements for Managing Custom Environments
If you sign in to a custom Azure environment, it's now easier to configure essential environment properties. In addition to the ARM management endpoint, you can also specify audience endpoints, the Microsoft Graph endpoint, and the Azure Service Management (ASM) endpoint. These values are optional and can be autofilled.
Electron 39
Storage Explorer now uses Electron 39. You can learn more from the Electron blog.
Known Issues
If you have installed the Linux snap for the first time, there is a known issue where Storage Explorer may not remember new attachments or proxy credential updates. You can work around these issues by closing and relaunching Storage Explorer. For more information, see #8652 and #8902.
v1.40.2
October 2025 (Version 1.40.2, build 20251101.1)
Welcome to Storage Explorer version 1.40.2. This release updates the bundled version of .NET to 8.0.21 and fixes an issue users may have encountered when trying to sign in to Azure China or Azure US Government clouds.
Version 1.40.2 includes features and bug fixes from 1.40.0. For a detailed list of all issues closed, visit our Issues page.
Downloading from NFS File Shares
In Storage Explorer version 1.40.0, we introduced support for uploading and downloading files from NFS file shares on Linux systems. Some users may have encountered issues when downloading files from NFS file shares. The files are downloaded, but the operation appears to fail in Storage Explorer.
AzCopy will not download anything from an NFS file share unless the --preserve-permissions option is provided. This option instructs AzCopy to preserve the original file's ownership on the local machine. However, this requires running AzCopy with sudo, because AzCopy needs to change file ownership, which requires elevated privileges. Storage Explorer cannot invoke AzCopy with sudo. This leads to the issue where downloads appear to fail regardless of settings.
If you encounter this issue, you can work around it by copying the AzCopy command and executing it directly from the command line with sudo.
This issue will be addressed in a future version of Storage Explorer.
Electron 38
Storage Explorer now uses Electron 38. You can learn more from the Electron blog.
v1.40.0
September 2025 (Version 1.40.0, build 20250925.27)
Welcome to Storage Explorer version 1.40.0. This release adds new features for file shares and tables. For a detailed list of all issues closed, visit our Issues page.
NFS File Shares
Storage Explorer now supports working with NFS file shares. If you have access to Premium File storage accounts, you can now manage NFS file shares in those accounts.
In this release, Storage Explorer supports the following operations:
-
Create NFS file shares. Storage Explorer will ask you whether you want to create an SMB or an NFS file share after entering the name of the new file share.
-
Copy and paste NFS file shares between storage accounts.
-
Create, manage, and delete NFS file share snapshots.
-
Copy and paste files and folders between NFS file shares. Transfers between NFS and SMB, SMB and NFS, NFS and blob, and blob and NFS will be available in a future release.
-
Upload to or download from NFS file shares (Linux only; Windows and macOS support will come in a future release).
We've also updated the Transfers → Preserve Info and Transfers → Preserve Permissions settings to reflect the NFS changes. We recommend enabling these settings when uploading or downloading from NFS file shares. This will help prevent ownership issues when downloading files.
When downloading from NFS file shares, AzCopy will attempt to modify the ownership of the local file to match the ownership of the file in the NFS file share. Errors may occur if your Linux user is not the owner. You can work around ownership-related errors by copying the AzCopy command used by Storage Explorer and run it directly from the command line using sudo.
Azure support for NFS file shares is ongoing. We will continue to improve NFS support as more platform features become available.
JSON Support for Table Import/Export
Storage Explorer now supports the option of importing and exporting table data in JSON format. JSON is better suited for developer workflows than CSV.
JSON Format
The expected JSON format is similar to the payload format for table service operations:
[
{
"PartitionKey": "p1",
"RowKey": "r1",
"Value1": "1",
"Value1@type": "Int32",
"Value2": "1.4",
"Value2@type": "Edm.Double",
"Value3": "true",
"Value3@odata.type": "Boolean",
"Value4": "example",
"Value4@type": "Edm.String"
},
{
"PartitionKey": "p1",
"RowKey": "r2",
"Value1": "2",
"Value2": "1.5"
}
]Type annotations are optional and can be expressed using the @type or @odata.type suffixes. Type values can include the Edm. prefix.
To prevent data loss, Storage Explorer expects all values to be represented as JSON strings. This helps prevent precision errors when parsing numbers, such as large Int64 values or certain Double values.
Storage Explorer can infer data types without type annotations, but there are situations where the type cannot be unambiguously determined. For example, "123" could be an Int32 or an Int64, and "Jane" could be a Binary or a String. For this reason, we recommend providing type annotations whenever possible.
Using Type Annotations as a Schema
Table imports have also been improved to better handle data that adheres to a schema.
Azure Tables are inherently schemaless—they don't ensure all entities in the table have the same set of properties with the same data types. However, users often model their data using schemas. In such cases, type annotations for all entities in import/export files become redundant.
In this version, we've added the option to export type annotations for the first entity only. This option helps preserve important type information while reducing the size of the exported file.
Storage Explorer can take advantage of files that only have type annotations for the first entity. When you select an import file, the Import dialog samples the first few entities to determine the best types for each property. If you disable the "Infer types for unannotated property values" option, Storage Explorer will select property types based on the type annotations for the first entity in the file.
Note that type sampling might not always work as expected. Storage Explorer may select different types if the sampled data does not match the type annotations from the first entity or if type annotations are present on multiple entities. This can lead to type-related errors during import. Always verify that your data is well formatted and that types can be unambiguously determined for all values.
Multi-factor Authentication Enforcement
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) will soon be required for all create, update, and delete operations. To avoid service interruptions, ensure that MFA is enabled for your user account, or contact your administrator for assistance. Once MFA is enabled, you may need to sign in to Storage Explorer again.
For more information, visit Planning for mandatory multifactor authentication for Azure and other admin portals.
v1.39.1
July 2025 (Version 1.39.1, build 20250715.1, Windows x64 and Windows ARM64 build 20250719.5)
Welcome to Storage Explorer version 1.39.1. This release addresses several additional issues that were not resolved in 1.39.0.
Version 1.39.1 includes feature enhancements and bug fixes from 1.39.0. For a detailed list of all issues closed in 1.39.0, visit our Issues page.
AzCopy for Windows ARM
Storage Explorer for Windows ARM now comes with an ARM-native binary of AzCopy. Windows ARM users can now benefit from improved performance and reduced memory usage when transferring data with AzCopy.
Windows .NET Installation Improvements
To help users keep Storage Explorer components up to date, the Storage Explorer installer for Windows now compares the latest version of the .NET Runtime installed with the version of .NET that comes bundled with Storage Explorer. If the installed version is older than the bundled version, the Storage Explorer will prompt you to install the newer version.
Storage Explorer Snap Base Upgraded to core22
The Storage Explorer snap for Linux has been upgraded to use the core22 base snap. This change was introduced in 1.39.0. For most users, this change is seamless and requires no additional action.
v1.39.0
June 2025 (Version 1.39.0, build 20250624.11)
Welcome to Storage Explorer version 1.39.0. This release includes several feature enhancements and bug fixes. For a detailed list of all issues closed, visit our Issues page.
Direct Link Path Support for File Shares
Storage Explorer now supports direct links to folders in file shares. If you have a direct link to a file share with a path argument for a folder, Storage Explorer will open a tab for that folder.
Currently, there is no "Copy Direct Link" option for file share folders as there is for blobs, so you cannot create direct links to file share folders directly. To do so, you must manually add a path argument to an existing file share direct link. If you would like to see a "Copy Direct Link" feature for file share folders, please open a feature request.
Azurite Container Auto-detection
Storage Explorer uses the docker command to automatically find and connect to Azurite instances running in Docker containers. Podman users who mapped the podman command to docker may have experienced issues with this feature due to differences in output format between Docker and Podman. This issue has now been fixed.
As a result, if you are using Podman and have mapped it to the docker command, Storage Explorer can detect and connect to Azurite instances running in Podman containers. However, functionality may be limited, and full support for Podman containers is still a work in progress.
Storage Explorer and AzCopy Proxy Settings
In previous versions, Storage Explorer provided a separate setting for controlling how the version of AzCopy included with Storage Explorer used a proxy. This created unnecessary complexity and confusion when Storage Explorer and AzCopy proxy settings did not match.
In this release, AzCopy now uses the same proxy settings as Storage Explorer. As a result, we have removed the redundant Transfers → AzCopy → Disable AzCopy Proxy Usage (transfers.azCopy.noProxy) setting.
v1.38.0
April 2025 (Version 1.38.0, build 20250408.1)
Welcome to Storage Explorer version 1.38.0. This release introduces several useful features and extends existing features to Linux snaps.
For a detailed list of issues resolved in v1.38.0, visit our Issues page.
Tab Colors
Storage Explorer now allows you to set tab colors. This long-requested feature helps you visually distinguish between different tabs. For example, you can color-code tabs based on storage account or subscription.
To set or remove a tab's color, right-click the tab and select a color from the Set Tab Color menu. Storage Explorer will remember your tab color selections across sessions.
Custom Accounts in Azurite Docker Containers
We recently added support for detecting Azurite instances running in Docker containers and automatically forming connections to them. This only worked with default account configurations.
Storage Explorer now supports custom account configurations with the AZURITE_ACCOUNTS environment variable. Emulator account nodes in Azurite Docker containers will now display the account name followed by the Docker container name.
Azurite Docker Container Support for Linux Snaps
Previously, Azurite Docker container support was limited to Windows, macOS, and the Linux tar.gz distribution. This release adds support for Linux snaps.
To enable Azurite Docker container support for Linux Snaps:
-
Ensure you have permissions to run Docker CLI commands, typically by adding your user to the docker group (see Docker's documentation). Restart your machine after adding your user to the docker group.
-
Ensure you are using the default Docker context. Storage Explorer does not support other Docker contexts (e.g.,
desktop-linux). Switch to the default context by running the following command:docker context use default
-
Connect the Docker-related Storage Explorer plug to the appropriate slots using the following commands:
snap connect storage-explorer:docker docker:docker-daemon snap connect storage-explorer:docker-executables docker:docker-executables
If you encounter issues connecting to your Azurite Docker containers, refer to our Troubleshooting Guide.
Direct Link Support for Linux Snaps
Previously, direct links (storageexplorer://...) would open Storage Explorer only on Windows and macOS. Now, for Linux snap users, direct links will open the Storage Explorer snap.
Note that this only works when interacting with link objects, such as an <a> element in an HTML document. Storage Explorer may not open if you paste a direct link into your browser.
Detach All for File Shares, Queues, and Tables
In our previous release, we introduced the ability to detach all attached blob containers. This release adds the ability to detach all attached file shares, queues, and tables.
Skip Rows in CSV Preview
Some users work with CSV files where the first line does not contain header or row data, making it difficult to discern the actual columns in the CSV preview panel.
Storage Explorer now allows you to discard the first few CSV rows to parse the expected row header. Additionally, we have relaxed CSV parsing rules to better handle rows with missing or extra columns.
Parquet Byte Array-encoded Decimal Values
Storage Explorer now parses Parquet DECIMAL values encoded as BYTE_ARRAY or FIXED_LEN_BYTE_ARRAY and displays them as decimal numbers.
v1.37.0
January 2025 (Version 1.37.0, build 20241221.4)
Welcome to Storage Explorer version 1.37.0. This version adds a number of new features to improve your app experience.
For a detailed list of issues closed in v1.37.0, visit our Issues page.
Pin File Share Folders
You can now pin folders within file shares to Quick Access.
Detach All Blob Containers
You can now detach all attached blob containers at once.
Similar functionality for other resource types will be added in future releases (see #3688).
Additional Encoding Support for Text Preview
Text preview now supports displaying contents with UTF-16BE and UTF-16LE encodings. Storage Explorer will automatically detect these encodings, but you can manually select the appropriate encoding in the preview panel.
System Formatting for DateTime Table Values
Storage Explorer can now apply your system's format settings to DateTime values in tables with the new Data Explorers → Table Explorer → DateTime Format setting using either UTC or your local time zone.
Export Queue Messages
You can now export the top 32 messages of your queues.
Due to limitations with the Azure Queues API, it is not possible to read more than the top 32 messages without potentially destructive data modifications to the queue. If you need the ability to export more than the top 32 messages of a queue, you may open a new feature request on GitHub.
Single or Multiple AzCopy Processes
In previous versions, Storage Explorer always allowed up to 5 separate transfers to run concurrently. This had the potential of negating any performance tuning benefits from other AzCopy settings, because each transfer spawns a separate AzCopy process that competes with the others for system resources.
You now have the choice of controlling whether Storage Explorer can launch multiple AzCopy processes with the Transfers → AzCopy → Allow Multiple AzCopy Processes setting. Storage Explorer now only spawns one AzCopy process to handle transfers by default. Multiple transfers are queued and processed sequentially. You can enable this setting to get the original behavior of multiple concurrent transfers.
App Configuration Extension Now Included with Storage Explorer
The Azure App Configurations extension for Storage Explorer is now included as part of the base app. The extension is still in preview, but all future updates to the extension will be included in regular Storage Explorer releases.
Support for .NET 8 and Above
In previous versions, Storage Explorer explicitly required a version of .NET 8 to be installed. Windows users with only .NET 9 were required to install .NET 8 during Storage Explorer installation.
Storage Explorer installation has relaxed the .NET requirement so that either .NET 8 or .NET 9 is supported.
Separate Options for Opening Blob Containers in New Tabs
Originally, opening a blob container from the Blob Containers explorer would create a new tab in a split panel. This was not optimal for some users' workflows.
We've changed the default behavior and added a new menu item to make it easier for users to open blob containers from the Blob Containers explorer the way they prefer:
- "Open" now opens the container in a new tab in the current panel.
- "Open to the Side" opens the container in a new tab in a split panel.
v1.36.2
October 2024 (Version 1.36.2, build 20241029.2)
Welcome to Storage Explorer version 1.36.2. This release addresses additional issues based on user feedback and fixes a few bugs.