Recover items from a former Trial Capacity

[SarahU]

I have let my Fabric Trial Capacity expire and did not immediately switch to a paid capacity, because I only have dev items in it. I still need them in the future though and was going to attach a paid capacity to it.

Whenever I try to attach the paid capacity to my workspaces now, I get an error message telling me to remove my Fabric items first, which is obviously the opposite of what I want.

Now I know it was stupid to wait for more than seven days after the end of the trial to attach the new capacity, but I am still hoping that there is a way to recover my fabric items. Has anybody been in this situation and managed to recover their items?

I can still see all of them, so I do not believe they are deleted (yet).

[Anonymous]

Hi @SarahU,

Thanks for reaching out to the Microsoft fabric community forum.

When a Microsoft Fabric trial capacity expires, there's a 7-day grace period during which you can still attach a paid capacity to your existing workspaces and retain your Fabric items. Once that grace period ends, the workspace becomes locked, and you can still see your items (which is why they appear in your workspace), but you cannot assign new capacity to the workspace, nor can you move, export, or recover the Fabric items on your own.

Unfortunately, at this stage, there is no self-service recovery option available through the portal or admin settings. Microsoft has a strict enforcement policy post-expiration.

Also as suggested by @rohit1991 you should reach out to Microsoft Support by raising a ticket with Microsoft Support.

Please refer below link on how to raise a contact support or support ticket.
How to create a Fabric and Power BI Support ticket - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

I would also take a moment to thank @rohit1991 and @lbendlin, for actively participating in the community forum and for the solutions you’ve been sharing in the community forum. Your contributions make a real difference.

If I misunderstand your needs or you still have problems on it, please feel free to let us know.  

Best Regards,
Hammad.

[Anonymous]

Hi @SarahU,

I wanted to follow up on our previous conversation. Has your issue been resolved or were you able to raise a support ticket with Microsoft Fabric Support?

Your feedback would be greatly appreciated, as it can help us better understand and address similar issues in the community.

Best Regards,

Hammad.

[Anonymous]

Hi @SarahU,
Hope everything’s going smoothly on your end. As we haven’t heard back from you, so I wanted to check if the issue got sorted or where you able to raise a support ticket.
Still stuck? No worries just drop us a message and we can jump back in on the issue.

Best Regards,

Hammad.

[rohit1991]

Hi @SarahU ,

This is a common scenario with expired Fabric trial capacities. Unfortunately, after the 7-day grace period, the workspace becomes locked, and you can’t attach new capacity or directly recover items from it.

Key points: Items usually aren’t deleted immediately, but access is restricted. Microsoft’s policy is strict after the 7-day window, and there’s no self-service way to recover or export items from a locked workspace. You might still be able to see your items, but you won’t be able to move, export, or reassign capacity without Microsoft support.

What you can try: Open a Microsoft support ticket ASAP and explain your situation—they are sometimes able to temporarily unlock the workspace or recover items, but it’s not guaranteed. If you have a business account or Microsoft representative, reach out to them directly for escalation.

References:

• Microsoft Fabric trial FAQ

• Workspace expiration and recovery

• Attach a paid capacity to your workspace

[lbendlin]

Yet.  They will be deleted in the next couple days.  Export their definitions to JSON where possible, and otherwise start recreating them in the new Fabric workspace.

Note: You don't attach capacities to workspaces, you assign workspaces to capacities.