Azure Documentation

Tutorial: Delete an Azure Storage Account

This tutorial guides you through the process of permanently deleting an Azure Storage Account. This action is irreversible and will result in the loss of all data within the account.

Prerequisites

• An Azure account with an active subscription.
• An existing Azure Storage Account that you wish to delete.

Steps to Delete a Storage Account

1. Sign in to the Azure portal

   Open your web browser and navigate to the Azure portal. Sign in with your Azure account credentials.

2. Navigate to your Storage Account

   In the Azure portal, search for "Storage accounts" in the search bar at the top and select it. Then, locate and select the specific storage account you want to delete from the list.

3. Initiate the Deletion Process

   On the storage account's overview page, you will find an option to delete the account. Look for a button or link labeled "Delete", often found in the top toolbar or under the "Essentials" section.

   Clicking the "Delete" button will open a confirmation blade.

4. Confirm Deletion

   A confirmation dialog will appear, emphasizing the irreversible nature of this action. You will typically need to type the name of the storage account to confirm your intent.

   Read the warning message carefully. To proceed, type the name of your storage account into the provided text field. This is a crucial security step to prevent accidental deletion.

   Example confirmation prompt:

   Please type the name of the storage account to confirm deletion: myuniquestorageaccount

5. Delete the Storage Account

   After typing the storage account name correctly, the "Delete" button at the bottom of the confirmation blade will become active. Click this button to finalize the deletion.

   Azure will then begin the process of deleting your storage account and all its associated data. This operation might take a few moments to complete.

6. Verify Deletion

   Once the deletion process is complete, you will receive a notification in the Azure portal. The storage account will no longer appear in your list of storage accounts.

   You can verify this by navigating back to the "Storage accounts" service and checking if your deleted account is present.

Important Considerations

• Data Loss: As reiterated, all data (blobs, files, queues, tables, etc.) within the deleted storage account will be permanently lost.
• Associated Resources: Deleting a storage account does not automatically delete resources that might be connected to it, such as virtual machines that use it for disk storage or applications that reference its endpoints. You may need to manage these separately.
• Resource Manager Deletion: Storage accounts are Azure Resource Manager resources. Deleting them removes them from your subscription.
• Costs: Once deleted, you will no longer incur costs for the storage account itself.