# How to collect the cycles from the useless canisters?

**URL:** <https://forum.dfinity.org/t/how-to-collect-the-cycles-from-the-useless-canisters/8150>\
**Category:** Developers\
**Created:** [October 26, 2021, 7:18am UTC](https://forum.dfinity.org/t/how-to-collect-the-cycles-from-the-useless-canisters/8150 "2021-10-26T07:18:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
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**Author:** ![cryptoschindler](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.dfinity.org/cryptoschindler/32/26_2.png) [@cryptoschindler](https://forum.dfinity.org/u/cryptoschindler)\
**Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 7:46am UTC](https://forum.dfinity.org/t/how-to-collect-the-cycles-from-the-useless-canisters/8150/2 "2021-10-26T07:46:10Z")

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maybe this helps

> [@How to retrieve cycles from an abandoned canister](https://forum.dfinity.org/t/how-to-retrieve-cycles-from-an-abandoned-canister/7022):
>
> Note that this guide uses dfx version 0.8.1 Create a new identity using dfx identity new move\_cycles Use the identity created by issuing dfx identity use move\_cycles Save the principal ID of the move\_cycles identity to the environment variable MOVE\_CYCLES\_IDENTITY by running MOVE\_CYCLES\_IDENTITY=$(dfx identity get-principal) Use the previous identity that is controller of the wallet canister that controls the abandoned canister by issuing the following command and substituting \<your\_o…

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