How to Delete a Bank Account in Xero

Managing your bank accounts in Xero is essential for keeping your financial records clean, especially if you switch banks or stop using a particular account. While Xero does not allow you to completely delete a bank account that has been used for reconciliations or transactions, you can archive it to remove it from active use.

Archiving a bank account in Xero prevents new transactions from being added and hides the account from the dashboard, reports and bank feeds. This ensures your records stay tidy without compromising the audit trail or historical data. In this article, we will walk through the steps to remove a bank account from active use in Xero and explain what you need to do beforehand.

Why you cannot fully delete a bank account

Xero is designed with compliance and audit requirements in mind. Once a bank account has been used in any transactions — even if only for testing or one-off reconciliation — it cannot be permanently deleted. This protects the integrity of your accounting data and ensures that financial reports reflect a complete history of transactions.

However, if the account has not been used for anything, you may be able to delete it entirely. More commonly, though, the account will be archived instead.

Steps to archive a bank account in Xero

To archive a bank account, first log into your Xero account and go to the Accounting menu. Select “Bank accounts” to see the list of all current accounts set up in your organisation.

Choose the account you wish to remove. Before you proceed, you should:

• Make sure all transactions have been reconciled

• Disconnect any bank feeds linked to the account

• Check that no repeating payments or bank rules are still active

Once this is done, open the account settings by selecting the name of the bank account. Look for the “Options” button in the top right corner and click “Archive.” Xero will prompt you to confirm the action. After archiving, the account will no longer appear in your dashboard or reconciliation screens.

You can still access historical data linked to that account through reports or the chart of accounts. If needed, you can also unarchive the account later.

Removing a bank feed connection

If the account you are archiving was connected to a live bank feed, it is important to disconnect the feed before archiving. To do this, open the bank account and go to the “Bank feeds” section. Click “Manage Account” and choose “Stop Bank Feed.” You may also need to revoke permissions with your bank if the connection was established via Open Banking.

Failing to disconnect the feed may result in errors or duplicate accounts being created if the same bank details are reconnected later.

Deleting a bank account with no transactions

If you created a bank account in Xero but never used it — no transactions, reconciliations or feed connections — you may be able to delete it fully.

To do this, go to the chart of accounts (under Advanced settings) and locate the account in question. If it is eligible for deletion, a “Delete” option will appear under the account settings. If the delete option is greyed out, it means the account has already been used and can only be archived, not removed.

Final thoughts

You cannot permanently delete a bank account in Xero if it has been used for any financial activity, but you can archive it to keep your system clean and focused on active accounts. This is the recommended approach for businesses that have closed accounts, changed banks or are restructuring their chart of accounts.

By following the proper steps — reconciling all transactions, disconnecting bank feeds and archiving correctly — you maintain a clear and compliant financial system without disrupting historical data.