Delete abandoned Office 365 Tenant

Question

Hi, there is an ancient Office 365 tenant that I set up years ago as a test and which is not used. 

But I cannot see how to remove it completely? If I try to delete the directory from Azure AD (which may not be the best way to do this) it tells me that I have to delete all subscriptions first. If I follow the link, it takes me to Office 365 which shows 0 subscriptions. 

After much clicking around, I think I found the problem (and this may help others struggling to track down subscriptions blocking tenant deletion, though I am not sure) - if I click my initials (top right) and select "My Account" (NOT "My Office profile"), and then Subscriptions, it shows one: "SharePoint Online (Plan 1)". Great, all I need to do is delete that, then go back to AAD and delete the directory, right? Except for one problem: there is no option to delete the license - no "delete button".

If I go into SharePoint itself, it says "We're still working on getting files setup on SharePoint. This should take us a few minutes". Oh dear, I think I might be taking a step backwards here! Eventually, it says "Getting your files set up on SharePoint is taking longer than expected - Try closing this page and coming back later". :-| One step forwards, 3 steps backwards!

This question is NOT "how do I remove SharePoint (which is a potential pointless rabbit hole given I just want rid of it)", it is "how do I completely close down the tenant?" given that MS don't seem to have a "close down" option?

Many thanks

Answer 1

Hi Dihao, I appreciate the reply, but I do not think you fully read my OP. 

Steps to cancel your subscription

If you added your own domain name to use with your subscription, you must remove the domain before you cancel your subscription. For more information, see Remove a domain from Office 365.

1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Products & services page.
2. Find the subscription that you want to cancel, and under Settings & Actions, select Cancel subscription.

If you read nothing else, please read this bit:THERE IS NO SUBSCRIPTION TO DELETE ON THE PRODUCTS and SERVICES PAGE!

 I appreciate that you may not convinced, so here is a screenshot:

Answer 2

Hi M.a.r.k.T.,

Sorry, I apologize for the late involve first.

The existing SharePoint Online (Plan 1) license is odd as there doesn't have any subscriptions in the Products & Services page in Office 365 admin center. I would like to suggest you check whether there have subscriptions assigned to the users who have the SharePoint Online (Plan 1) license. If so, de-select the assigned license and check the results.

If the issue persists, we would like to suggest you raise a ticket from the Office 365 admin center (if it's possible) for further investigation. We are willing to help you, but we indeed have limit resources regarding to the back-end issue. The related support will help you more efficiently regarding this issue. We appreciate your understanding and patience.

Best Regards,

Hugo

Answer 3

Hi M.a.r.k.T.,

From your description, you would like to remove an Office 365 tenant completely since you are no longer use it. To delete an Office 365 business tenant completely, you need to cancel all the subscriptions from the Office 365 admin center.

For your information:

Cancel your subscription

One all the subscriptions are canceled. It will move into a Disable state, which it will last for 90 days generally. After that the tenant will be completely deleted after 3 months. You can also refer to this article for more information about What happens to my data and access when my Office 365 for business subscription ends?

Hope the information above helps.

Best regards,

Dihao