How to cancel Amazon Web Services account?

How to Cancel an Amazon Web Services (AWS) Account: A Step-by-Step Guide

Why Cancel Your Amazon Web Services (AWS) Account?

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is one of the most popular cloud platforms for businesses and individuals alike, offering a wide range of services, including computing power, storage, databases, analytics, machine learning, and more. However, sometimes, you may need to cancel your AWS account due to various reasons such as:

• Cost: High costs can be a significant concern, especially for small businesses or individuals who may not be able to afford the expenses.
• Unused Resources: You may have signed up for a free trial or a particular service, but found that you don’t need it anymore.
• Unwanted Services: You may have signed up for services that are not relevant to your needs, and you want to cancel them.
• Insufficient Technical Support: If you’re not happy with the level of technical support provided, you might want to cancel your account.

How to Cancel Your Amazon Web Services (AWS) Account: A Step-by-Step Guide

Canceling your AWS account can be a simple process, but it requires careful consideration and a step-by-step approach. Here’s a guide to help you cancel your AWS account:

Step 1: Access Your Account Settings

• Log in to your AWS Management Console with your username and password.
• Click on Account in the top right corner of the page.
• Click on My Account.

Step 2: Review Your Resource Usage

• Check your resource usage, including:

  • Unpaid Invoices: See if there are any unpaid invoices or outstanding charges.
  • Unused Resources: Review your unused resources, such as EC2 instances, RDS instances, or S3 buckets.
  • Underutilized Resources: Check if you have underutilized resources, such as Elastic Load Balancers or Auto Scaling groups.

Step 3: Identify Which Services to Cancel

• Based on your review of resource usage, identify which services you want to cancel. You can:

  • Cancel individual services, such as:

    • EC2 instances
    • RDS instances
    • S3 buckets
    • Lambda functions

  • Cancel entire accounts, such as:

    • AWS IAM (Identity and Access Management)
    • AWS KMS (Key Management Service)
    • AWS Inspector (Security Assessment and Compliance)

Step 4: Cancel Individual Services or Accounts

• To cancel individual services, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to the relevant service (e.g., EC2 Instances, RDS Instances, etc.).
  2. Click on the Actions dropdown menu next to the resource you want to cancel.
  3. Select Terminate or Delete.

• To cancel entire accounts, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to the My Account page.
  2. Click on Cancel Account.
  3. Confirm that you want to cancel your account.

Step 5: Review and Confirm Cancellation

• Before canceling, review your:

  • Open Invoices: Make sure you’ve paid or settled any outstanding invoices.
  • Resource Usage: Verify that you’re no longer using any resources.

• Confirm that you want to cancel your account by clicking on Cancel Account.

Step 6: Remove Any Linked Services or Resources

• If you’re canceling individual services, remove any linked services or resources, such as:

  • Elastic Load Balancers: Detach and delete any Elastic Load Balancers.
  • Auto Scaling Groups: Delete any Auto Scaling groups.
  • S3 Buckets: Delete any S3 buckets.

• Remove any other resources or services linked to the resources you’re canceling.

Step 7: Verify Cancellation

• After canceling your AWS account or resources, verify: that:

  • Your account is no longer active.
  • Your resources are no longer available.
  • You’ve removed all linked services or resources.

Additional Tips and Best Practices

• Regularly Review Your Resource Usage: To avoid accumulating unwanted expenses, regularly review your resource usage and cancel any unused resources.
• Use Cost Explorer: Use AWS Cost Explorer to track and monitor your costs, and identify areas where you can optimize and reduce your expenses.
• Consider Downsizing or Rightsizing: If you’re not using certain resources, consider downsizing or rightsizing them to reduce costs.
• Archive or Delete Data: Archive or delete any data you no longer need, to avoid unnecessary storage costs.

Conclusion

Canceling your Amazon Web Services (AWS) account can be a complex process, but following this step-by-step guide will help you navigate the process efficiently. Remember to regularly review your resource usage, use Cost Explorer, and consider downsizing or rightsizing your resources to reduce costs. By following these best practices, you can ensure a smooth cancellation process and avoid unnecessary expenses.

References:

• Amazon Web Services. (n.d.). Canceling Your AWS Account. Retrieved from https://docs.aws.amazon.com/general/latest/gr/cancelling-your-aws-account.html
• Amazon Web Services. (n.d.). Understanding Your AWS Costs. Retrieved from https://docs.aws.amazon.com/general/latest/gr/aws-cost-explorer.html

Note: The above article is for general information purposes only and should not be considered legal or financial advice. Canceling an AWS account should be done with caution and after careful review of your resource usage and costs.