My Azure tenant has been blocked due to inactivity for > 20 days.

ken b 0 Reputation points
2026-03-23T17:31:10.8233333+00:00

Receive error code AADSTS5000335 when try to log into Azure portal. Azure is still billing me monthly. How do I cancel the Azure subscription?

Microsoft Security | Microsoft Entra | Microsoft Entra ID

1 answer

Sort by: Newest
Most helpful Newest Oldest

  1. AI answer

    2026-03-23T17:31:22.54+00:00

    Because the tenant has been blocked for inactivity and the error indicates it has been in that state for more than 20 days, the tenant is no longer recoverable. Direct portal access to cancel from within that tenant is not possible.

    To stop further Azure billing, the subscription itself must be canceled. The supported path is:

    1. Sign in to the Azure portal with the account that owns the subscription (the Subscription owner or account owner, depending on subscription type).
    2. In the portal, go to Cost Management + Billing.
    3. In the left menu, select Subscriptions (or Azure subscriptions).
    4. Select the subscription that is still being billed.
    5. At the top of the subscription page, select Cancel.
    6. Follow the cancellation flow:
      • Confirm the reason for cancellation.
      • If prompted, select Turn off resources so all resources are stopped.
      • Select Cancel subscription to complete.

    After cancellation:

    • Billing stops immediately, though a final invoice is generated at the end of the current billing period.
    • Services under the subscription are disabled (VMs deallocated, temporary IPs released, storage becomes read-only).
    • Three days after cancellation, the Delete subscription option becomes available on the subscription page if needed for manual deletion.
    • If the subscription type does not allow self-cancel or the Cancel option is not visible, the subscription owner must contact Microsoft support or the appropriate billing administrator (for example, EA account owner) to request cancellation on their behalf.

    If the tenant is fully deleted and the subscription is still billing under a different billing account view, the billing account owner must use Cost Management + Billing → Billing scopes to locate the billing account and then cancel the subscription from there.

    References:

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

    Was this answer helpful?

Your answer

Answers can be marked as 'Accepted' by the question author and 'Recommended' by moderators, which helps users know the answer solved the author's problem.