---
title: "How-to Remove or Exclude a VM(s) from Backups"
slug: "how-to-remove-or-exclude-a-vms-from-backups"
updated: 2022-07-05T18:30:43Z
published: 2022-07-05T18:30:43Z
canonical: "kb.expedient.com/how-to-remove-or-exclude-a-vms-from-backups"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://kb.expedient.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How-to Remove or Exclude a VM(s) from Backups

### Introduction

Virtual Machines are protected in the Cloud Data Protection platform via Protection Jobs. When building a protection job, VMs can be sourced via a feature called 'Auto Protect' or can be sourced manually.

The default and recommended configuration is to utilize 'Auto-Protect.' This configuration will automatically add and remove backups based upon the existence of a VM in your EEC portal. Most of the time, you will not need to adjust the protected VMs. However, certain circumstances may require a VM to be excluded from a policy (SQL backups, a policy with longer retention on a file server, etc).

This How-to will cover removing backups from a protection job configured via Auto-Protect and a job configured manually.

### Procedure

#### Protection Job configured via AutoProtect

1. [Log in](/v1/docs/how-to-access-cloud-data-protection) to the Cloud Data Protection system
2. Select the **Data Protection → Protection** tab  
  
![](https://cdn.document360.io/69e9f9c7-5da8-45e7-a671-4b8287f36122/Images/Documentation/image-1612984267766.png)
3. Locate the applicable protection policy, select the **Context Menu Icon**, and select **Edit**  
*(Far right of the protection policy line, hover to make the three dots appear.*  
  
![](https://cdn.document360.io/69e9f9c7-5da8-45e7-a671-4b8287f36122/Images/Documentation/image-1612984267804.png)
4. Navigate to the **Objects** section and select **Edit Objects**
5. Switch to the **Folder Hierarchy** V**iew** **![](https://cdn.document360.io/69e9f9c7-5da8-45e7-a671-4b8287f36122/Images/Documentation/image-1612984267839.png)**
6. Expand the folders to locate the appropriate VM(s) in the resource pool
7. Select the **Shielded A Icon** to exclude the VM from backups
8. Confirm the VM now shows **Excluded**, the **Shielded A Icon** has switched to **gray**, and the number of **Selected VMs** has decreased  
  
![](https://cdn.document360.io/69e9f9c7-5da8-45e7-a671-4b8287f36122/Images/Documentation/image-1612984267875.png)

If the VM was added manually, navigate to it and uncheck the box to the right of the VM icon.![](https://cdn.document360.io/69e9f9c7-5da8-45e7-a671-4b8287f36122/Images/Documentation/image-1612984267913.png)

1. Select **Save Selection**