how do i remove an orphaned site
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I started to set up a website. it was hosted elsewhere and that has been cancelled. i cannot delete the site myself and i sent this message in the chat support :
Hi,
My site-----------was a Jetpack-connected staging site from an external host. I’ve canceled the hosting, so the site no longer exists.
I can’t delete it — the system says “User cannot delete Jetpack site using API” and “You are the owner; you must first transfer ownership.”
Please remove this orphaned site from my WordPress.com account.
Thank you!I cannot transfer ownership because i was the only user / admin. so i am really stuck. the reply to my message was , sounds like you need to speak to a human – but then told me i couldn’t speak to a human because I am not a paid member. This was set up through a business package that i bought with IONOS. I am no longer with them, as I cancelled during trial period.
Can anyone help? because i will eventually reset my website up but I want this first attempt completely removed
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Hi! We’ve replied to you directly by email at the address associated with your WordPress.com account.
To remove the site, we’ll need to properly downgrade it first, and for security reasons, we can only proceed once you confirm this over email.
We’ll close this forum thread so you can continue the conversation through the support ticket.
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Hello, thankyou for your reply. I can see your e mail and have replied, but it is a “noreply”
e mail address. I can’t see anything else from you – can you please advise? Have you received my response to confirm downgrade / deletion of site?
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Hello, thankyou for your reply. I can see your e mail and have replied, but it is a “noreply”
e mail address. I can’t see anything else from you , I have checked my spam etc – can you please advise? Have you received my response to confirm downgrade / deletion of site?
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Hey there! I’ve resent the email to you with the subject “WordPress.com – Delete site diane22284f8ddf-behxo.wordpress.com” ensuring it’s not from a noreply address.
Please reply here if you still have trouble and we can determine next steps.
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Hello, I am so sorry but I still can only see the e mail that says you have replied to this topic – not one that has come seperately with the next steps. I had so many problems with my e mails at the time when i changed all the server details , I have checked also another e mail address that I used originally when I set the account up before changing it, and there is nothing in either, including the spam. Other than the replies to the topic.
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there is a recovery telephone number set up on the profile – i am very happy to answer any security questions if someone wants to give me a call if that will help ?
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If you’re receiving the forum notification emails, that’s good! It means your email address is working.
The emails we’ve sent have the subject line “WordPress.com – Delete site diane22284f8ddf-behxo.wordpress.com” and they’re coming from help@wordpress.com. They should be arriving at the same email address that’s receiving these forum notifications.
A few things to check:
- Try searching your entire email inbox (including all folders) for that subject line
- Check if your email provider has any filtering rules that might be catching our messages
- Look in any “promotions” or “updates” tabs if you’re using an email client that supports this
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“Can you send me a simple blank test email from help@wordpress.com?”
have checked everything like spam filtering etc
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I have been chatting to chat GBT !! :) and this guided me through all the checks regarding hidden filtering / blocks/ usual things like checking spam etc. and the behind the scenes stuff in settings. i did it for both the gmail account i originally set up the account in and also the freeola webmail that serves the e mail address i changed it to after setting up the account. i have sent a message to the freeola support tem explaining that i am getting the “noreply” e mails with the forum replies but not the other more important ones you are sending. I really don’t know what else to do. here’s what the final advice Chat GBT gave me after sending screen shots of all the settings results –
So at this point, based on everything you’ve checked on both email accounts: ✅ 1. Your Gmail account is not blocking or filtering WordPress emails.
No filters, no blocked senders, no redirects — all clear. ✅ 2. Your Freeola account also looked clear earlier.
So neither mailbox appears to be stopping the messages. ✅ **3. That means the problem is almost certainly on WordPress.com’s sending end.
Either:
- their automated deletion emails aren’t being generated correctly,
- or something is wrong with the specific thread/request you’re involved in,
- or the message is queued but never actually sending.
This fits your situation perfectly:
You are receiving forum reply notifications, but not the “Delete site…” confirmation email — that’s a separate system inside WordPress. ⭐ What happens next?You’ve already done the best next step:
➡ Asking the WordPress staff member to send a test email manually
This will immediately reveal whether:A) Their emails can reach you normally,
orB) Only the automated “delete site” confirmation is failing
If the manual test email arrives, the issue is 100% a WordPress backend bug, not your email accounts.
If the manual test email does not arrive at either address, then the WordPress user-to-user messaging system may also be affected.
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I appreciate you working through all those troubleshooting steps.
Since you’re able to receive the forum notification emails, let’s try a different approach: Can you email us directly to help@wordpress.com?
In your email, please:
- Reference this forum thread
- Confirm you’d like to proceed with downgrading the site diane22284f8ddf-behxo.wpcom
Once we receive your email, we’ll be able to reply directly and continue from there. This will help us establish a direct email connection with you.
Edited to add: There’s no bug on our end with the deletion, since you can’t delete sites that still are on the Business Plan infrastructure. Before you can delete it, we need to downgrade it first, and since that’s a destructive action, we have to verify it through email for security reasons. We can’t process that type of request through the public forums.
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Wonderful ! I have just sent it – fingers crossed !!!! thankyou so much for your help and patience
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their reply was I can just remove it myself with a step by step guide – which i can’t ! I have replied again with a copy of your reply – this is beginning to look like it will be there forever !
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Thanks for your patience! I received your email and sent a reply. I’ll close out this forum thread for now.
- The topic ‘how do i remove an orphaned site’ is closed to new replies.
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