Closing an account

Step 1: Canceling all services

To delete a service instance, use the following steps:

1. From the IBM Cloud console, click the Navigation Menu icon > Resource list to view your list of resources.
2. Expand the sections to locate the service instance that you want to delete.
3. Click the Actions icon > Delete for the row.

Step 2: Canceling all devices

To cancel all devices, use the following steps:

1. From the IBM Cloud console, click the menu icon > Classic Infrastructure > Device List.
2. For each device that you want to cancel, click the Actions icon , and select Cancel device.
3. Acknowledge that data loss might occur as a result of canceling, and then click Cancel device.

Step 3: Canceling all billing items

To cancel all billing items, use the following steps:

1. From the IBM Cloud console, select Manage > Billing and usage.
2. Select Billing items.
3. Ensure that you are viewing all billing items.
4. For each billing item that you want to cancel, click the Actions icon , and select Cancel billing item.

Closing a Pay-As-You-Go account

After the account owner cancels all services, devices, and billing items for the account, they can cancel the account. To close a Pay-As-You-Go account, go to Manage > Account, select Account settings in the IBM Cloud console. From the account settings page, click Close account.

If your account has reserved instances with term remaining on the agreement or if you can't cancel resources, contact support. Reschedule any pending cancellations to terminate before you cancel the account.

When you close a Pay-As-You-Go account, all usage stops across all services that are running in your account. The usage that is accrued in the current billing period is sent in one final invoice at the close of the billing period. You might receive a final invoice after you close your account due to incurred charges from the month before closing the account.

Closing a Subscription account

To close a Subscription account, a support case is required for account security and documentation purposes. Closing your account can't be undone, and your data is unrecoverable. The support case documents your acknowledgment that the account and its data cannot be recovered after closure.

You can request to cancel your Subscription account before the end of the term, but whether the subscription can be canceled early is at the discretion of IBM. A subscription is a contract between you and IBM that commits you to use IBM Cloud for a specific term and spending amount. For more information, see Managing subscriptions.

To create the support case, use the following steps:

1. Go to the Support Center, and click Create a case in the Contact Support center.

2. Click Account.

3. Select the Cancel/close/suspend subtopic and click Next.

4. Add a subject title and use the template as a guide to complete the case description.

   • As noted in the template, acknowledge that you understand all services and data will be permanently removed and will not be recoverable upon account closure.

Go to the Manage cases page to track the progress or to update the support case.

Closing an enterprise account

To close an enterprise account, you must also remove all child accounts. After an account is removed, it can't be reactivated. It takes 21 days after removing an account to fully remove the account from the enterprise. The account is SUSPENDED for 14 days and CANCEL_PENDING for 7 days.

To remove a child account from an enterprise, complete the following steps:

1. From the IBM Cloud console, select Manage > Enterprise > Accounts.
2. For each account that you want to remove, click the Actions icon , and select Remove account.
3. Confirm that you want to remove the account.

Closing a Lite or Trial account

To close a Lite account or to end a Trial account before its expiration date, go to Manage > Account, select Account settings in the IBM Cloud console. From the account settings page, click Close account.

You can reactivate your account if you upgrade to a Pay-As-You-Go or Subscription account. After an account is closed for 30 days, all data are deleted and all services are removed.