No rights to delete a subscription

Allen Long 0 Reputation points
2025-02-04T21:12:17.48+00:00

I have an old tenant from a company I shutdown a few years ago. I want to delete the tenant but there is still a subscription in the tenant and that is blocking the deletion. So, I try to cancel the subscription. I don't have rights. I am the 'Global Administrator' but that's not enough. There are no other users in the tenant. I'm trying to figure out how to get the 'Owner' role. I think that is what I need to cancel the subscription. Have tried everything I can think of myself. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Azure Role-based access control
Azure Role-based access control
An Azure service that provides fine-grained access management for Azure resources, enabling you to grant users only the rights they need to perform their jobs.
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  1. Andreas Baumgarten 117.5K Reputation points MVP
    2025-02-04T21:44:32.3766667+00:00

    Hi @Allen Long ,

    it looks like your user isn't a member of the Owner role in your Azure Subscription.

    The best option might be to open a support request with Azure Support:

    Create an Azure support request

    Azure Billing and Subscription support is offered by Microsoft by no cost and it's for free.

    Source: Azure Support plans

    User's image


    (If the reply was helpful please don't forget to upvote and/or accept as answer, thank you)

    Regards

    Andreas Baumgarten


  2. Sanoop M 600 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor
    2025-02-05T23:29:22.0033333+00:00

    Hello @Allen Long,

    Thank you for posting your query on Microsoft Q&A.

    To make a user an administrator of an Azure subscription, you assign them the Owner role at the subscription scope. The Owner role gives the user full access to all resources in the subscription, including the permission to grant access to others. Since the Owner role is a highly privileged role, Microsoft recommends you add a condition to constrain the role assignment.

    Prerequisites:

    To assign Azure roles, you must have:

    Step 1: Open the subscription

    Follow these steps:

    Sign in to the Azure portal.

    In the Search box at the top, search for subscriptions.

    Click the subscription you want to use.

    The following shows an example subscription.

    Screenshot of Subscriptions overview

    Step 2: Open the Add role assignment page

    Access control (IAM) is the page that you typically use to assign roles to grant access to Azure resources. It's also known as identity and access management (IAM) and appears in several locations in the Azure portal.

    Click Access control (IAM).

    The following shows an example of the Access control (IAM) page for a subscription.

    Screenshot of Access control (IAM) page for a subscription.

    Click the Role assignments tab to view the role assignments at this scope.

    Click Add > Add role assignment.

    If you don't have permissions to assign roles, the Add role assignment option will be disabled.

    Screenshot of Add > Add role assignment menu.

    The Add role assignment page opens.

    Step 3: Select the Owner role

    The Owner role grant full access to manage all resources, including the ability to assign roles in Azure RBAC. You should have a maximum of 3 subscription owners to reduce the potential for breach by a compromised owner.

    On the Role tab, select the Privileged administrator roles tab.

    Screenshot of Add role assignment page with Privileged administrator roles tab selected.

    Select the Owner role.

    Click Next.

    Step 4: Select who needs access

    Follow these steps:

    On the Members tab, select User, group, or service principal.

    Screenshot of Add role assignment page with Add members tab.

    Click Select members.

    Find and select the user.

    You can type in the Select box to search the directory for display name or email address.

    Screenshot of Select members pane.

    Click Save to add the user to the Members list.

    1. In the Description box enter an optional description for this role assignment. Later you can show this description in the role assignments list.
    2. Click Next.

    For additional details, please refer to the below documents for your reference.

    https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/role-based-access-control/role-assignments-portal-subscription-admin#prerequisites

    https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/role-based-access-control/role-assignments-steps

    I hope this above information provided is helpful. Please feel free to reach out if you have any further questions.

    If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

    Thanks and Regards,

    Sanoop Mohan


  3. Andreas Baumgarten 117.5K Reputation points MVP
    2025-02-06T17:33:45.07+00:00

    Hi @Allen Long ,

    if nothing works there is still hope ;-) If you haven't any permission to manage your Azure Subscription anymore:

    One option might be to call Microsoft's Global Support: Global Customer Service phone numbers


    (If the reply was helpful please don't forget to upvote and/or accept as answer, thank you)

    Regards

    Andreas Baumgarten

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