To effectively close your Azure account and stop incurring charges, the primary step involves cancelling all active Azure subscriptions associated with the account. While "closing an account" isn't a single button click, cancelling your subscriptions ensures that resources are deallocated and billing ceases.
Here's how to cancel an Azure subscription using the Azure portal, based on the provided information:
Step-by-Step Guide to Cancelling Your Subscription
Cancelling a subscription is a straightforward process within the Azure portal.
- Navigate to Cost Management + Billing: Log in to the Azure portal and search for or select the service called "Cost Management + Billing".
- Select Subscriptions: In the left-hand menu of the Cost Management + Billing area, select "Subscriptions". This will show you a list of all subscriptions associated with your account.
- Choose the Subscription: From the list, select the subscription you wish to cancel.
- Initiate Cancellation: At the top of the individual subscription page, select "Cancel".
After selecting cancel, you will be guided through a brief process. You might be asked for feedback or confirmation. Once confirmed, the subscription's status will change.
What Happens After Cancelling?
Once a subscription is cancelled:
- Services associated with that subscription are stopped.
- Data may be retained for a specific period (often 30-90 days) in case you need to reactivate the subscription, but access to resources is generally lost.
- Billing stops for resources under that subscription.
Cancelling Multiple Subscriptions
If your Azure account has more than one subscription, you will need to repeat the cancellation process for each individual subscription you wish to close.
Important Considerations
- Before cancelling, ensure you have backed up any data you need to keep.
- Verify that all resources within the subscription are no longer needed, as they will become inaccessible.
- If you have any outstanding charges, you will be billed for usage incurred up to the point of cancellation.
This process outlines the crucial step of cancelling subscriptions to stop billing and effectively close out your usage under an Azure account.
| Step | Action | Location in Portal |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Go To | Cost Management + Billing | Azure Portal Search/Menu |
| 2. Select | Subscriptions | Left menu (under Cost Management) |
| 3. Choose | The specific subscription to cancel | Subscriptions list |
| 4. Click | Cancel | Top of subscription page |
