Delete an account

A transaction that deletes an existing account from the Hedera network. Before deleting an account, the existing HBAR must be transferred to another account. Submitting a transaction to delete an account without assigning a beneficiary via setTransferAccountId() will result in a ACCOUNT_ID_DOES_NOT_EXIST error. Transfers cannot be made into a deleted account. A record of the deleted account will remain in the ledger until it expires. The expiration of a deleted account can be extended. The account that is being deleted is required to sign the transaction.

Note: The setTransferAccountId() method is required, regardless of whether the account has a zero balance.

Transaction Fees

• Please see the transaction and query fees table for the base transaction fee.

• Please use the Hedera fee estimator to estimate your transaction fee cost.

Transaction Signing Requirements

• The account that is being deleted is required to sign the transaction.

Methods

Method	Type	Description	Requirement
setAccountId(<accountId>)	AccountId	The ID of the account to delete.	Required
setTransferAccountId(<transferAccountId>)	AccountId	The ID of the account to transfer the remaining funds to.	Required

Java

//Create the transaction to delete an account
AccountDeleteTransaction transaction = new AccountDeleteTransaction()
    .setAccountId(accountId)
    .setTransferAccountId(OPERATOR_ID);

//Freeze the transaction for signing, sign with the private key of the account that will be deleted, sign with the operator key and submit to a Hedera network
TransactionResponse  txResponse = transaction.freezeWith(client).sign(newKey).execute(client);

//Request the receipt of the transaction
TransactionReceipt receipt = txResponse.getReceipt(client);

//Get the transaction consensus status
Status transactionStatus = receipt.status;

System.out.println("The transaction consensus status is " +transactionStatus);

JavaScript

//Create the transaction to delete an account
const transaction = await new AccountDeleteTransaction()
    .setAccountId(accountId)
    .setTransferAccountId(OPERATOR_ID)
    .freezeWith(client);

//Sign the transaction with the account key
const signTx = await transaction.sign(accountKey);

//Sign with the client operator private key and submit to a Hedera network
const txResponse = await signTx.execute(client);

//Request the receipt of the transaction
const receipt = await txResponse.getReceipt(client);

//Get the transaction consensus status
const transactionStatus = receipt.status;

console.log("The transaction consensus status is " +transactionStatus);

//2.0.5

Go

//Create the transaction to delete an account, freeze the transaction for signing
transaction, err := hedera.NewAccountDeleteTransaction().
        SetAccountID(newAccountID).
        SetTransferAccountID(operatorAccountID).
        FreezeWith(client)
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

//Sign with the private key of the account that will be deleted, sign with the operator key and submit to a Hedera network
txResponse, err := transaction.Sign(accountKey).Execute(client)
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

//Request the receipt of the transaction
receipt, err := txResponse.GetReceipt(client)
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

//Get the transaction consensus status
transactionStatus := receipt.Status

fmt.Printf("The transaction consensus status is %v\n", transactionStatus)

//v2.0.0

Get transaction values

Method	Type	Description
getAccountId(<accountId>)	AccountId	The account to delete
getTransferAccountId(<transferAccountId>)	AccountId	The account to transfer the remaining funds to

Java

//Create the transaction to delete an account
AccountDeleteTransaction transaction = new AccountDeleteTransaction()
    .setAccountId(newAccountId)
    .setTransferAccountId(OPERATOR_ID);

//Get the account ID from the transaction
AccountId transactionAccountId = transaction.getAccountId()

System.out.println("The account to be deleted in this transaction is " +transactionAccountId)

//v2.0.0

JavaScript

//Create the transaction to delete an account
const transaction = new AccountDeleteTransaction()
    .setAccountId(newAccountId)
    .setTransferAccountId(OPERATOR_ID);

//Get the account ID from the transaction
const transactionAccountId = transaction.getAccountId()

console.log("The account to be deleted in this transaction is " +transactionAccountId)

JavaScript

//Create the transaction to delete an account
transaction, err := hedera.NewAccountDeleteTransaction().
        SetAccountID(newAccountID).
        SetTransferAccountID(operatorAccountID)

//Get the account ID from the transaction
transactionAccountId := transaction.GetAccountID()

//v2.0.0