Stuck with not working automation account

Question

Stuck with not working automation account

jan pawel 0

After failing deployment I have deleted the resource group alongside with the automation account (unwise thing to do). Later I've tried to redeem myself and restore that automation account following the instruction (via creating new resource group with same name and then the "restore automation account" button). Account was restored but my deployment still fails with

"{\r\n  \"code\": \"BadRequest\",\r\n  \"message\": \"Only one account is allowed for your subscription per Region. If Deleted recently, please restore the same account\"\r\n}"

the target is that said original restored automation account. Not sure if that's a bug or there are some extra steps not mentioned here https://learn.microsoft.com/en-gb/azure/automation/delete-account?wt.mc_id=knowledgesearch_inproduct_copilot-in-azure&tabs=azure-portal#restore-a-deleted-automation-account

Siva shunmugam Nadessin 9,625 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-04-25T00:21:53.46+00:00
Hello jan pawel,

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Q&A forum.

When investigated we see that you’re running into the “one Automation account per subscription per region” quota even though you’ve restored your old account. Azure soft-deletes accounts for up to 14 days, and during that time the service still counts them against your regional quota. If you try to create or restore another account in the same region before the soft-deleted one is fully recovered (or purged), you’ll hit that BadRequest.

Here’s how to get back on track:

Verify what’s actually in your subscription • In the portal, open Automation Accounts, click Filters and turn on Show deleted to see both live and soft-deleted accounts. • Or via PowerShell:

Get-AzAutomationAccount -SubscriptionId <your-sub> | Where-Object Location -eq '<your-region>' Get-AzAutomationDeletedAccount -SubscriptionId <your-sub>

Clean up duplicates • If you see more than one (live or deleted) account in that region you don’t need, remove the extra one:

Remove-AzAutomationDeletedAccount -Name <accName> -ResourceGroupName <rgName> -Force

• Make sure you only have your intended automation account sitting in that region.

Restore your deleted account properly • If it’s still in deleted state, restore it with PowerShell (sometimes more reliable than the portal):

Restore-AzAutomationDeletedAccount ` -Name <YourAccountName> ` -ResourceGroupName <YourRG> ` -Location <YourRegion>

• Wait a few minutes for the service to finish recovery.

Re-run your deployment Point your ARM/template or CLI to that restored account. Since it’s now the one and only account in that region, the “Only one account is allowed” error should disappear.

Plan for next time or multiple accounts • If you genuinely need more than one Automation account, pick a second region (see Products available by region in the docs). • Or use multiple subscriptions within the same geography.

If after those steps you still see the same quota error, it could be a backend propagation delay—or a bug. At that point you can escalate to the Azure Automation product team (see Azure Automation Product Team Escalation guide) and include your subscription ID, region, correlation IDs from the failed deployment, and screenshots of your Automation Accounts blade with “Show deleted” turned on.

Let me know if any further queries - feel free to reach out!

Reference docs:

Restore a deleted Automation account: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/automation/delete-account?tabs=azure-portal#restore-a-deleted-automation-account

Create a standalone Azure Automation account: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/automation/automation-create-standalone-account

Automation subscription limits & quotas: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/automation/automation-subscription-limits-faq

Azure Automation Product Team Escalation: https://supportability.visualstudio.com/AzureAutomation/_wiki/wikis/Azure-Automation.wiki/23864/Azure%20Automation/General/Escalations/Azure%20Automation%20Product%20Team%20Escalation
Siva shunmugam Nadessin 9,625 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-04-27T22:13:32.98+00:00

Hello jan pawel,

Just checking in to see if the solution shared above help you to resolve your issue. please reach out to us If you have any further questions.

Thanks
jan pawel 0 Reputation points

2026-04-28T17:44:43.17+00:00

Hi @Siva shunmugam Nadessin
I've attempted to apply the solution although most of these commands seemed to not exist, especially "Get-AzAutomationDeletedAccount, Remove-AzAutomationDeletedAccount", there is no such filter as "Show deleted". Additionally the deployment using that restored deleted automation account also fails with the same error, even though I am trying to use existing resource instead of creating new one.

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Siva shunmugam Nadessin 9,625 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-04-27T22:13:32.98+00:00

Hello jan pawel,

Just checking in to see if the solution shared above help you to resolve your issue. please reach out to us If you have any further questions.

Thanks
jan pawel 0 Reputation points

2026-04-28T17:44:43.17+00:00

Hi @Siva shunmugam Nadessin
I've attempted to apply the solution although most of these commands seemed to not exist, especially "Get-AzAutomationDeletedAccount, Remove-AzAutomationDeletedAccount", there is no such filter as "Show deleted". Additionally the deployment using that restored deleted automation account also fails with the same error, even though I am trying to use existing resource instead of creating new one.

Answer 1

Hello jan pawel,

Greetings!

Thanks for raising this question in Q&A forum.

Don't worry you're not alone in this situation and it's actually a very understandable mistake! Here's what's happening: Azure soft-deletes Automation accounts for up to 14 days after you delete them. During this time, the service still counts that deleted account against your regional quota of one Automation account per subscription per region. So even though you restored the account, the deployment is still seeing a conflict — likely because there is either a ghost of the old deleted account still lingering in the system, or the restored account hasn't fully propagated yet in the backend.

Here's how to get yourself unstuck step by step:

Step 1: Check for Lingering Soft-Deleted Accounts

First, let's see exactly what's sitting in your subscription. Open the Azure Portal → Automation Accounts, click Filters at the top, and enable "Show deleted". This will reveal any soft-deleted accounts that are still counting against your quota alongside your restored one.

You can also check via PowerShell for a clearer picture:

Get-AzAutomationAccount -SubscriptionId <your-sub-id>
Get-AzAutomationDeletedAccount -SubscriptionId <your-sub-id>

Step 2: Remove Any Extra or Duplicate Soft-Deleted Account

If you see more than one account in that region (either live or in deleted state), remove the unwanted one using PowerShell:

Remove-AzAutomationDeletedAccount `
  -Name <AccountName> `
  -ResourceGroupName <ResourceGroupName> `
  -Force

Wait a few minutes after running this to allow the quota to update on the backend.

Step 3: Confirm Your Restored Account Is Fully Active

Go to the Azure Portal → Automation Accounts and open your restored account. Make sure its status shows as "Active" not "Restoring" or any transitional state. Sometimes the restore completes visually in the portal before it's fully live in the backend.

Step 4: Try Restoring via PowerShell if Portal Restore Seems Incomplete

If you're not fully confident the portal restore worked properly, try running the restore command via PowerShell as it is often more reliable:

Restore-AzAutomationDeletedAccount `
  -Name <YourAccountName> `
  -ResourceGroupName <YourResourceGroupName> `
  -Location <YourRegion>

Step 5: Wait a Few Minutes Then Re-Run Your Deployment

After cleaning up duplicates and confirming only one active Automation account exists in that region, wait about 5 minutes for quota propagation, then re-run your failed deployment. Point it to the restored account and the "Only one account is allowed" error should no longer appear.

Step 6: If the Error Still Persists, Escalate to Azure Support

If after all these steps the same error continues, this may be a backend propagation bug that needs the Azure Automation product team to manually clear the quota state. Open an Azure Support Request and include your Subscription ID, region, the correlation ID from the failed deployment error, and a screenshot of the Automation Accounts blade with "Show deleted" enabled.

If this answer helps you kindly accept the answer which will help others who have similar questions.

Best Regards,

Jerald Felix.

jan pawel 0 Reputation points

2026-04-25T10:07:07.4333333+00:00

Thanks, but I am afraid this answer is completely an AI hallucination, there is no such filter as "Show deleted", Get-AzAutomationAccount does not accept subscription-id parameter, the Powershell command Get-AzAutomationDeletedAccount does not exist. Additionally there is no Restore-AzAutomationDeletedAccount command.

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Stuck with not working automation account

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