Unable to renew "Error Sorry, this renewal is not accessible at this time" -> Expiring in 4 days.

Question

Unable to renew "Error Sorry, this renewal is not accessible at this time" -> Expiring in 4 days.

Suranjit Paul 0

AZ-500 certification is expiring in December 2026.

This certification has been retired on 31st August.

I am eligible to renew till 5th September, however, everytime I access the renewal page, it shows me following error:

ERROR: Sorry, this renewal is not accessible at this time

How can I renew by 5th September?

Thank you.

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2 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Julian Sharp 42,721

As the exam and certification retired on August 31st, it is no longer possible to renew the certification.

Retired certifications cannot be renewed.

Suranjit Paul 0 Reputation points

2026-09-02T10:54:53.0766667+00:00

In that case I am trying to understand why I was provided the information that I can renew by 5th September while the certification retires on 31st August?
Julian Sharp 42,721 Reputation points

2026-09-02T11:25:35.59+00:00

Retirement of a certification overrides the renewal/expiry date of your certification
Suranjit Paul 0 Reputation points

2026-09-03T00:36:56.9066667+00:00

Thank you for your feedback. That make sense.

The certification expires on 28th December 2026, however, I was provided with a message that the certification is retiring on 31st August but can be renewed until 5th September. Unfortunately, that information was misleading!
Matt Doran 0 Reputation points

2026-09-04T08:38:06.3366667+00:00

I have the same feedback as the exact same issue happened to me. The "renew by" date should be updated to show the retirement date of the certifcation (or perhaps the day before)
Julian Sharp 42,721 Reputation points

2026-09-04T08:40:21.7766667+00:00

This is a community forum not support, I would provide your feedback to Microsoft Credentials support https://aka.ms/credentials-support

Answer 2

A retired certification cannot be renewed after the certification retires. Microsoft states that if a certification retirement date precedes the certification expiration date, renewal must be completed before certification retirement. It also states that if a certification is retired, there is no option to renew after the certification retires.

That matches the behavior of the “Sorry, this renewal is not accessible at this time” message for retired certifications. In a similar case, the moderator guidance was: You cannot renew a retired certification.

If the certification was already retired on 31 August, renewal by 5 September is no longer available, even if the profile still shows a later expiration or a prior renewal window.