Can't reactivate free Confluence subscription

[ComradeClout]

I can't reactivate my Confluence free app subscription, when I click the "Reactivate" the spinner just spins and nothing happens. If I try to re-enable it via adding a new app using the existing one then it just shows the error:

"This can happen when a site is behind on payments. Try reviewing Atlassian Administration, and if you're still having trouble contact support."

How can I reactivate this subsription? It's kind of ridiculous that all of our work is about to be deleted due to "inactivity" with no prior warning.

[Maksym Liutyi · Accepted solution]

Hi @ComradeClout

I’m sorry to hear your site has been deactivated - I know how critical this is for your team’s daily work.

Because this involves your specific account and billing details, we need to move this to a secure environment where our Billing and Account teams can verify your information and assist with reactivation. For security reasons, we cannot handle these details here in the public forum.

Next Steps:

• Please submit a Billing & Licensing request here.

• Select "Your Account" → “Reactivate Subscription”

• Mention that your site is currently deactivated so our team can prioritize your request and add a link to this Forum post.

Support team will be able to look into the status of your subscription and help you resolve any outstanding issues immediately.

[ComradeClout]

Hi @Maksym Liutyi 

I've submitted a ticket, thanks!

[Carlos Garcia Navarro]

Hi @ComradeClout ,

Welcome to the Community! This other post may be helpful: https://community.atlassian.com/forums/Confluence-questions/Reactivate-Confluence-Free-space/qaq-p/3261873

From the post, you can try:

• Go the https://admin.atlassian.com/billing
• Select your billing account
• Select the Subscriptions page
• Click the Inactive tab
• Find the Confluence site that was deactivated and click the Reactivate button.

[ComradeClout]

Hi @carlos

I've tried that, it is what causes the infinite spinner.

[Carlos Garcia Navarro]

Hi @ComradeClout ,

I've requested assistance from the Atlassian Support Team. We should get a response within 2 business days.

[ComradeClout]

Hi @Carlos Garcia Navarro

Thanks for your help!

[Jovânio Junior]

Hi ComradeClout - Welcome to the Atlassian Community!

From the error message, I would treat this primarily as a subscription/billing-state issue, not a Confluence content problem.

Atlassian’s current guidance for reactivating a deactivated subscription is:

admin.atlassian.com/billing → Subscriptions → Inactive → Reactivate

For Free subscriptions, Atlassian says the app’s data is retained for a limited period after deactivation, and if you reactivate within that retention window, your data and preferences should be restored.

A couple of things are important here:

If the Reactivate button just spins indefinitely, that is not expected behavior.
The message about the site being “behind on payments” can sometimes be generic and does not necessarily mean your current Confluence Free plan itself has an unpaid invoice.
I would check whether there are any other active or historical subscriptions attached to the same billing account/site that could be affecting the reactivation.

Atlassian also documents another supported path:

admin.atlassian.com → Apps → Atlassian apps → Confluence → Add to an existing site

If the existing site is still within the retention period, this can reactivate the deactivated product as well.

Since you have already tried both methods and neither works, I would open a Billing/Subscriptions support request and include:

your cloud site URL;
screenshot of the spinner/error;
confirmation that Confluence was on the Free plan;
approximate deactivation date;
confirmation that you want the existing site/data restored, not a new empty Confluence site.

I would also act quickly. Atlassian states that once the applicable data-retention period expires, the product data is permanently deleted and cannot be recovered.

So at this point, I would not keep trying to create another Confluence instance. I would focus on getting the existing inactive subscription reactivated while the data is still retained.

Hope this helps!

[ComradeClout]

The contact form has no submit button so it seems you can't contact Atlassian support unless you're a paid customer.

Based on this experience I'll make sure to never become one of those and ensure no one I know becomes one either.