Close an Alibaba Cloud account
When an Alibaba Cloud account is no longer needed because a project has ended, an enterprise has been deregistered, or for other business reasons, you may need to permanently delete the account by following the instructions in this topic.
Once an account is successfully closed, the action is permanent. All data, resources, information, and assets under the account are completely deleted and cannot be recovered by any means. You can also no longer use this account to log on to any Alibaba Cloud service.
Process and timeline
Account closure is a multi-stage process that involves manual preparation by the user, automated system checks, and a final cool-down period.
Prepare for closure: A user-driven stage and the most critical step. This stage requires you to complete all financial settlements, data backups, resource releases, and dependency removals. The thoroughness of the preparation directly determines how smoothly the subsequent stages proceed. We recommend that you use the Closure Check feature in Account Center to pre-check the resources that commonly require manual handling before you formally initiate closure.
Initiate the closure process: After you submit a closure request in the console, the system performs a comprehensive automated scan to verify that all closure conditions are met.
Enter the cool-down period: The cool-down period is an irreversible waiting period. Its main purpose is to accommodate billing system delays and ensure that the final fees generated after you submit the closure request can be correctly settled, thereby preventing closure failure caused by unexpected overdue payments.
Confirm the closure result: After the cool-down period ends, the account is permanently deleted; or, if an issue is detected, the account is restored to active status and you are notified to re-initiate the process.
The total time required to complete closure depends on whether workloads are still deployed in the account.
Accounts without workloads: It takes an estimated few minutes to initiate the closure process, followed by a cool-down period of several days.
Accounts with workloads: Allow an estimated 2 to 5 business days to complete preparations such as resource backup and migration; after you initiate the closure process, a cool-down period of several days follows.
Note that if the account has associated domain names or ICP filings, an additional 7 to 15 business days are required to handle domain name transfers and ICP filing cancellations.
The cool-down period mainly accommodates billing system delays. It is therefore irreversible and cannot be shortened. Please wait patiently.
After the cool-down period begins, unsubscribed resources and released balances cannot be recovered. Proceed with caution.
Step 1: Prepare for closure
In this stage, you must manually clear all items that might block the closure process and back up critical data.
Initiate Closure Check
The specific steps are as follows: Log on to Account Center, and under My Account, choose The closure check completes in a few minutes, and the system clearly indicates the items that you must handle manually.
Interpreting the closure check results
No blocking items: If the check result indicates "No manual blocking items to handle", the pre-closure conditions are met and you can click Start Closure to enter the closure process.
Inconsistent check results: If the page indicates that there are unprocessed resources but the detailed list shows no abnormal items, carefully check whether any of the following hidden resources have not been released:
Try clicking the Release button displayed on the page to handle them one by one.
After you initiate the formal closure process, the system performs a resource check again. If conditions for closure are still not met, the system clearly indicates them and provides handling guidance.
Recommendations for checking the account before closure
Financial settlement
Settle overdue payments: Go to Expenses and Costs. Check and pay all issued bills and outstanding fees, and handle invoice discrepancies (a refund is generated when an order or bill for which an invoice has already been issued is unsubscribed or downgraded, causing the actual consumption amount to be less than the original invoiced amount).
If the account has a balance, you cannot withdraw it after closure. The system supports abandoning only a small balance (1,000 CNY or less) or a small overdue amount (10 CNY or less), which is canceled together with the account.
Data and credential backup (as needed)
Financial credentials: Batch export all historical bills, orders, and invoices from Expenses and Costs for audit purposes.
Business data: Back up all important business data, such as files in OSS, ApsaraDB RDS database backups, and ECS snapshots.
Configurations and logs: Export critical configuration information and operation logs.
Resource and dependency cleanup
Release resources: Ensure that all pay-as-you-go resources are completely released and that all subscription resources have expired or been unsubscribed. Perform these operations in the console of the corresponding product.
Handle domain names and ICP filings
Domain names: Transfer all domain names under the account to another account or service provider.
ICP filings: Log on to the ICP filing system and complete the cancellation of the website ICP filing, or transfer the ICP filing entity to another account.
Handle multi-account relationships: If the account is in a multi-account system, you must first remove the relationship.
Multi-account type
Administrator
Member account
Resource directory
You cannot close the account directly. You must first Disable Resource Directory, then proceed with closure.
Use the management account to remove the current member from the resource directory, then proceed with closure. See Delete a resource account-type member
Finance trusteeship
You cannot close the account directly. You must first disassociate all member accounts, then initiate closure. See Associate and dissociate accounts
See this topic.
Financial Management
You cannot close the account directly. You must first unbind all member accounts, then initiate closure. See Disassociate a sub-account.
See this topic.
Enterprise multi-account
You cannot close the account directly. You can first transfer super administrator permissions to another member account, then proceed with closure.
See this topic.
If the account has signed up with an Alibaba Cloud partner (reseller), contact the partner to cancel the partnership before you close the account.
Step 2: Initiate the closure process
Account closure must be initiated by logging on to the Alibaba Cloud account. RAM users cannot perform the account closure operation.
You can access the Alibaba Cloud official website on a computer or operate through the Alibaba Cloud app. We recommend that you use a computer for more convenient operation.
Log on to your account and verify your identity.
PC
Log on to Account Center, and first, under My Account, select .
We recommend that you perform an account check before formal closure to handle blocking items in the closure process in advance.
In the Verify Identity dialog box, select any method to complete account identity verification.
NoteIf your account has not completed real-name verification, only mobile phone number verification is supported.
Alibaba Cloud app
Open the Alibaba Cloud app, tap the Me tab at the bottom, select Account Management, tap Close Account, and then tap Continue.
On the Enter Verification Code page, complete account identity verification by using your mobile phone number.
NoteIf your account has completed real-name verification, you can also click Other verification methods to complete account identity verification through Alipay authorization.
Carefully read the Alibaba Cloud Account Closure Agreement that appears. After you confirm that everything is correct, select Agree and click Next.
System check and processing: The system automatically scans the resources and financial status under the account. This process may take 3 to 5 minutes.
Check passed
After the system check passes, you are prompted that you can close the account. Click Confirm Closure in the lower-left corner to enter the final step.
Check found blocking items
The system lists all resources to be handled, in two categories:
Must be handled manually: For example, unexpired domain names, unsettled bills, and some cloud resource instances that cannot be abandoned. Click Go to handle on the right of the corresponding item, complete the operation as instructed, then return to this page and click Re-check.
Can be abandoned: For example, a small balance and cloud service instances that can be released directly. First select all Can be abandoned resources, then click Abandon/Release selected resources. In the risk prompt that appears, confirm and agree.
ImportantNote that after you submit the closure, unsubscribed resources and released balances cannot be recovered. Proceed with caution.
After all items are handled and pass the check, in the Confirm Closure dialog box, select a closure reason and click Confirm Closure.
ImportantAfter you confirm closure, the system automatically executes the closure process, which you cannot terminate on your own. During this period, do not use this account for any operations, to avoid closure failure. After closure, all your resources on Alibaba Cloud are cleared and cannot be recovered. Proceed with caution.
Step 3: Enter the cool-down period
After you confirm closure, the account enters the irreversible closure cool-down period in about 5 minutes and automatically logs off. At the same time, the system creates a service-linked role named
AliyunServiceRoleForAccountDeletionto assist with resource cleanup. This role is cleaned up together with the account closure, and you do not need to pay attention to it or handle it.During the closure cool-down period, you can log on to the Alibaba Cloud official website to view the remaining closure time of the account, but you cannot perform any other operations and cannot revoke the closure request.
After the cool-down period begins, unsubscribed resources and released balances cannot be recovered. Proceed with caution.
Step 4: Confirm the closure result
After the cool-down period ends, you receive an SMS and email notification about whether the closure succeeded or failed.
Closure successful: The account and all data are permanently deleted.
Closure failed: This is usually because a billing delay generated a new overdue payment during the cool-down period. In this case, the closure process is aborted and the account is restored to a normal state. You need to log on again, settle the overdue payment, and re-initiate the entire closure process.
Impact after account closure
Cannot log on: After the Alibaba Cloud account is closed, you cannot log on to the Alibaba Cloud website. To continue using Alibaba Cloud products, register a new Alibaba Cloud account.
Resources and information cannot be recovered: After the account is closed, the resource instances, services, funds, bills, and invoices under the account cannot be recovered.
Third-party accounts are not affected: Alibaba Cloud accounts are independent of other app accounts under Alibaba Group (such as Taobao, Alipay, and DingTalk). Closing your Alibaba Cloud account does not affect the use of other accounts, but the association relationships of the third-party accounts you bound are automatically deleted.
FAQ
I have cleared all resources. Why is there still a closure cool-down period?
Answer: Although the resources of the account to be closed have been released, the usage data and billing of some products are delayed, and bills may still need to be generated. Therefore, the account can be closed only after the cool-down period.
Can I revoke the closure request during the cool-down period?
Answer: No. Once the cool-down period begins, the closure process is irreversible and you can only wait for it to end.