How to move ownership of Azure resources between accounts?

Question

We have a set of Azure resources running and would like to transfer ownership to a different account billing to a different credit card. There are a smattering of questions and documents if you search the web but they appear to be out of date and we have not been able to get the support bot to navigate to, well, anything.

Any help on this would be appreciated.

Answer 1

AI-generated content. This answer was partly created with AI from ChatGPT, and the accuracy was validated.

1. Understand the Key Scenarios

Azure resource transfer generally involves one of these scenarios:

• Changing the billing account: Moving resources to a new billing account managed by a different Azure subscription.
• Changing subscription ownership: Transferring the subscription (and associated resources) entirely to a different Azure account.
• Migrating resources between subscriptions: Moving specific resources from one subscription to another within the same Azure Active Directory (AAD) tenant.

---

2. Transfer Subscription Ownership

• Navigate to the Azure Portal.
• Go to Subscriptions and select the subscription you want to transfer.
• Under the Settings section, choose Transfer Billing Ownership.
• Follow the on-screen instructions to provide the recipient's email address (associated with their Azure account).
• The recipient will receive an email and must accept the transfer.

---

3. Reassign Billing

If you only want to update the payment method:

• Go to Cost Management + Billing in the Azure Portal.
• Under Payment Methods, add a new credit card for the subscription and set it as the default.
• If you have transferred subscription ownership, the new owner must update their payment details.

---

4. Migrating Resources Between Subscriptions

If you need to move specific resources instead of transferring the entire subscription, you can migrate them between subscriptions:

Using the Azure Portal

1. Verify that both subscriptions are under the same Azure Active Directory (AAD) tenant.
2. Go to the Resource Group that contains the resources you want to move in the Azure Portal.
3. Select Move > Move to another subscription.
4. Select the resources you want to move and ensure they meet the eligibility requirements.
5. Select the target subscription and, optionally, a target resource group.
6. Confirm the move and monitor its progress.

5. Considerations and Limitations

• Resource Dependencies: Resources with dependencies may need to be moved together to avoid disruptions (e.g., a VM and its associated storage).
• Eligibility: Some resources cannot be moved. Check Azure’s documentation on resource moves for an up-to-date list of supported resource types.
• Downtime: Some resources may experience brief downtime during the migration process.
• Subscription Types: Certain subscription types (like CSP or EA) may have additional constraints or require assistance from Azure Support.

6. Export/Import for Unsupported Resources

For unsupported resources, you may need to export their configurations (e.g., using ARM templates) and redeploy them in the target subscription. This manual approach serves as a fallback for unsupported scenarios.

Notes:

• Plan the move to minimize downtime, especially for production resources.
• Ensure the new account owner has the appropriate roles and permissions for the transferred resources.

Please accept the answer if it helps!