Azure for Students disabled – unable to delete stuck Azure Firewall

Ayushman Behera 0 Reputation points
2026-08-31T08:04:10.81+00:00

Hello Microsoft Support/Community,

I am a student using Azure for Students for learning and practice.

I created an Azure Firewall named FIREWALL_PRCTICE in resource group practice. Unfortunately, I was unable to complete the cleanup before my Azure credits were exhausted.

My subscription is now in the Disabled state, and Azure CLI returns:

ReadOnlyDisabledSubscription

The firewall is also in a Failed state. When I try to delete it, I receive:

AzfwADeleteFromFirewallPolicyFailed

The firewall fails to dereference Firewall Policy TEMP_POLICY.

Because the subscription is disabled and read-only, I cannot modify or delete the firewall, firewall policy, public IP addresses, or virtual network resources.

I also attempted to create a Billing support request through the Azure Portal, but the support request page repeatedly fails to load with an ErrorLoadingControl error.

Could someone please advise whether Microsoft can assist with cleanup of these resources, or whether the disabled Azure for Students subscription and its remaining resources will eventually be automatically decommissioned?

Thank you.

Azure Policy
Azure Policy

An Azure service that is used to implement corporate governance and standards at scale for Azure resources.

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  1. Venkatanaidu Madamanchi 0 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-08-31T12:06:24.8766667+00:00

    Hello @Ayushman Behera

    Thanks for Reaching out to Microsoft Q&A Support team,

    We understand the situation and how frustrating it can be when a subscription becomes disabled before resource cleanup can be completed.

    Based on the information shared, the issue appears to be related to the Azure for Students subscription entering a Disabled (Read-Only) state after the available credits were exhausted. In this state, Azure blocks resource modifications, which is why you are receiving the ReadOnlyDisabledSubscription error when attempting to delete or update resources. Microsoft documentation confirms that disabled subscriptions restrict management operations until the subscription is reactivated.

    Regarding the Azure Firewall deletion error (AzfwADeleteFromFirewallPolicyFailed), the firewall still appears to be associated with the TEMP_POLICY Firewall Policy. Normally, the policy reference would need to be removed before the firewall can be deleted. However, because the subscription is currently read-only, you are unable to perform the required remediation steps. As a result, the firewall, policy, and dependent networking resources cannot be manually cleaned up at this time.

    To move forward, I recommend contacting Azure Subscription Management/Billing Support and requesting assistance with either:

    • Temporarily reactivating the subscription so the resources can be removed, or
    • Assisting with the backend cleanup of the remaining resources.

    Subscription and billing support is generally available without a paid support plan

    Since you are also encountering the ErrorLoadingControl issue when attempting to create a support request, please try:

    1. Using an InPrivate/Incognito browser session.
    2. Trying a different browser.
    3. Clearing browser cache and cookies.
    4. Accessing the support request creation page directly instead of navigating through the affected portal blade.

    If the issue persists, please include the following information when contacting support:

    • Subscription ID
    • Resource Group: practice
    • Azure Firewall: FIREWALL_PRCTICE
    • Firewall Policy: TEMP_POLICY
    • Error: AzfwADeleteFromFirewallPolicyFailed

    Finally, Microsoft states that disabled subscriptions are eventually permanently deleted along with their underlying resources after the applicable retention period for the subscription type. Therefore, the resources should not remain indefinitely, although only Microsoft Support can confirm the exact lifecycle for your specific subscription.

    I hope this information helps. Please let us know if you need any further assistance with this issue. We will be happy to assist you.

    Regards,

    Venkat.M

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  2. Senthil kumar 2,245 Reputation points
    2026-08-31T08:39:44.95+00:00

    Hi @Ayushman Behera

    I understand your query and will explain to yours doubts.

    Azure for Students has strict lifecycle rules:

    • Active

    You have credits → full access.

    • Disabled

    Credits exhausted → subscription becomes read‑only.

    You cannot:

    delete resources

    modify resources

    create support tickets (billing support is not available for Students)

    detach firewall policies

    remove public IPs

    remove VNets

    • Expired

    After ~90 days, the subscription is fully decommissioned.

    All resources are automatically deleted by Azure.

    This is by design — not a bug.

    Thanks.

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