Delete an Azure Storage Account
This document outlines the steps and considerations for deleting an Azure Storage Account. Deleting a storage account is a permanent action and cannot be undone. All data within the account will be irrecoverably lost.
Important: Ensure you have backed up any critical data before proceeding with the deletion of a storage account.
Prerequisites
- An Azure subscription.
- An existing Azure Storage Account that you wish to delete.
- Appropriate permissions to delete resources within your Azure subscription (e.g., Owner or Contributor role at the subscription or resource group level).
Steps to Delete a Storage Account
Method 1: Using the Azure Portal
- Sign in to the Azure portal.
- Navigate to your Storage Account. You can find it by searching for "Storage accounts" in the top search bar and then selecting your account from the list.
- In the storage account's overview page, locate and click the "Delete" button in the top menu bar.
- A confirmation dialog will appear. You will need to type the name of the storage account to confirm deletion.
- Click the "Delete" button to initiate the deletion process.
Tip: Before deleting, review the resource group the storage account belongs to. If the storage account is the only resource in that group and you no longer need the group, you can also delete the resource group.
Method 2: Using Azure CLI
You can use the Azure Command-Line Interface (CLI) to delete a storage account. Ensure you have the Azure CLI installed and are logged in.
az storage account delete --name <storage-account-name> --resource-group <resource-group-name> --subscription <subscription-id>
- Replace
<storage-account-name>with the name of your storage account. - Replace
<resource-group-name>with the name of the resource group containing the storage account. - Replace
<subscription-id>with your Azure subscription ID (optional if you have only one subscription active).
Method 3: Using Azure PowerShell
Alternatively, you can use Azure PowerShell.
Remove-AzStorageAccount -ResourceGroupName <resource-group-name> -Name <storage-account-name>
- Replace
<resource-group-name>with the name of the resource group. - Replace
<storage-account-name>with the name of your storage account.
Considerations Before Deleting
- Data Loss: All data stored in the account (blobs, files, tables, queues) will be permanently deleted and unrecoverable.
- Dependencies: Check if any applications, services, or other Azure resources depend on this storage account. Deleting it may break these dependencies.
- Replication: Data in geo-replicated regions will also be deleted.
- Resource Group: Decide whether to delete the storage account only or the entire resource group if it's no longer needed.
- Custom Domains and Static Websites: If you have configured custom domains or enabled static website hosting, these configurations will be removed.
Warning: Deleting a storage account is irreversible. Double-check all details before proceeding.
What Happens After Deletion
- The storage account name becomes available for reuse after a certain period, but it is not guaranteed immediately.
- Associated costs for the storage account will cease.
- All data and configurations within the account are purged.
If you need to restore data after deletion, you would typically rely on backups taken prior to the deletion event.