You can permanently close an Alibaba Cloud account when a project concludes, an enterprise is dissolved, or for other business reasons. Follow this guide to permanently delete your account.
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 no longer log on to any Alibaba Cloud service with this account.
Overview
Account closure is a multi-stage process that involves manual preparation, automated system checks, and a mandatory cool-down period.
Prepare for closure: A user-driven stage and the most critical step. Complete all financial settlements, data backups, resource releases, and dependency removals. Thorough preparation directly determines the smoothness of subsequent stages.
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: An irreversible waiting period. Its primary purpose is to accommodate billing system delays, ensuring that any final fees generated after you submit the closure request are properly settled, thus preventing closure failure due to unexpected overdue payments.
Confirm the closure result: After the cool-down period ends, the account is permanently deleted; or if issues are detected, the account is restored to active status and you are notified to restart the process.
The total time required to complete closure depends on whether workloads are still deployed in the account.
Accounts without workloads: It takes several minutes to initiate closure, followed by a cool-down period of several days.
Accounts with workloads: Allow 2 to 5 business days to complete preparations (resource backup and migration), followed by a cool-down period of several days after initiating closure.
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 primarily accommodates billing system delays. It is irreversible and cannot be shortened.
After the cool-down period begins, unsubscribed resources and released balances cannot be recovered. Proceed with caution.
Step 1: Prepare for closure
Clear all items that may block closure and back up any critical data.
Pre-closure account check recommendations
Financial settlement
Settle overdue payments: Go to Expenses and Costs. Pay all outstanding bills and fees. Handle invoice discrepancies from refunds generated after unsubscription or downgrade.
If the account has a balance, you cannot withdraw it after closure. The system supports abandoning only small balances (1,000 USD or other local settlement currencies or less) or small overdue payments (10 USD or other local settlement currencies or less), which are canceled along with the account.
Data and credential backup (optional)
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 Backup, and ECS snapshots.
Configurations and logs: Export critical configuration information and operation logs.
Resource and dependency cleanup
Release resources: Release all pay-as-you-go resources and ensure all subscription resources have expired or been unsubscribed. Perform these operations in each product's console.
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. Complete the cancellation of website ICP filings or transfer the ICP filing entity to another account.
Handle multi-account relationships: If the account belongs to a multi-account system, remove the relationship first.
Multi-account type
Administrator
Member account
Resource directory
You cannot close the account directly. First, close the resource directory, then proceed with the closure.
Use the management account to remove or delete the member account from the resource directory before proceeding with closure. Delete a resource account type member.
Finance trusteeship
You cannot close the account directly. First, disassociate the finance trusteeship relationship with all member accounts, then initiate closure. Associate and disassociate finance trusteeship.
See the present topic.
If the account has a partnership with an Alibaba Cloud partner (reseller), cancel the partnership before you close the account.
Step 2: Initiate the closure process
You must log on with your Alibaba Cloud account (primary account). RAM users cannot close accounts.
Log on to Account Center. Go to the Security Settings page. Next to Close Account, click Close. In the Identity Verification dialog box, complete account identity verification by email or text message.
Read the Alibaba Cloud Account Closure Agreement, select the checkbox, and click Next.
System check and processing: The system scans account resources and financial status. This process takes 3 to 5 minutes.
If the check passes
You are prompted that the account can be closed. Click Confirm Deletion to proceed.
If blocking items are found
The system lists all pending resources by category.
You must process: Unexpired domain names, unsettled bills, and resource instances that cannot be abandoned. Click Process next to each item, resolve it as instructed, then click Re-check.
Renounceable: Small balances and releasable cloud service instances. Select all Renounceable resources, click Discard or Release Selected Resources, select the checkbox in the risk prompt, and click Confirm Discard or Release.
After submitting the closure, unsubscribed resources and released balances cannot be recovered. Proceed with caution.
After all items are processed and pass the check, in the Confirm Deletion dialog box, select a closure reason and click Confirm Deletion.
ImportantAfter you confirm, the closure process executes automatically and cannot be terminated. Do not perform any operations with this account during this period. After closure, all resources are permanently deleted and cannot be recovered.
Step 3: Enter the cool-down period
After you confirm closure, the account enters the irreversible closure cool-down period within about 5 minutes and automatically logs off. The system creates a service-linked role
AliyunServiceRoleForAccountDeletionfor resource cleanup. This role is deleted with the account—no action required.During the closure cool-down period, you can log on to the Alibaba Cloud website to check the remaining cool-down time (that is, the expected completion time of the cool-down period). You cannot perform any other operations or revoke the closure request during this period.
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 text message and email notifications about whether the closure succeeded or failed.
Closure successful: The account and all data are permanently deleted.
Closure failed: Typically caused by billing delays that generate new overdue payments during cool-down. The account is restored to a normal state. Log on, settle the overdue payments, and restart the closure process.
What happens after your account is closed?
You cannot log on: You can no longer access any Alibaba Cloud service. To continue using Alibaba Cloud, create a new Alibaba Cloud account.
Resources and information cannot be recovered: All resource instances, services, funds, bills, and invoices under the account are permanently deleted.
Third-party accounts are not affected: Closing your Alibaba Cloud account does not affect other accounts, but third-party account associations are automatically removed.
FAQ
Why is there still a cool-down period after all resources are cleared?
Some billing records are delayed. Bills may still be generated after resources are released, so the cool-down period ensures all charges are settled.
Can I revoke a closure request during the cool-down period?
No. Once the cool-down period begins, the closure process is irreversible. You must wait for it to end.