How to Unstake Your Staked Solana (SOL)

Do you want to unstake your staked SOL from a Solana validator? This guide will show you how to unstake SOL from Solana staking and withdraw your SOL from Solana staking.

There are two main ways to unstake SOL from Solana staking:

1. Using your wallet or an app like our Solana Staking Dashboard. This will issue an unstake command, and your stake will be available to withdraw when the current epoch ends.
2. Using a tool like Unstake.it. This will immediately unstake your SOL and make it available to withdraw, in exchange for a small fee. It works by swapping your stake account for a stake pool token, which it can then unstake at its leisure.

Which option is best for you depends on your needs. If you want to unstake your SOL as soon as possible, you should use Unstake.it. If you want to unstake your SOL at a specific time, you should use your wallet or our Staking Dashboard.

How long does it take to unstake your Solana?

It normally takes up to three days to unstake your Solana. This is because Solana uses a system of epochs, each of which lasts around 2.5 days. In order to ensure fairness and network security, when you deactivate your stake, it will remain active for the remainder of the current epoch. This means that you will not be able to withdraw your SOL until the end of the current epoch.

However it is now possible to instantly unstake your SOL from any validator using unstake.it, if you are prepared to pay a small fee of roughly 0.3%.

If I use a normal delayed unstake, how long will it take to withdraw my SOL?

When you unstake SOL from Solana staking, it will be available to withdraw when the current epoch ends. Each epoch lasts around 2.5 days, so depending if we are at the start or end of the epoch ti could take from a couple of hours to 2 days to withdraw your SOL. The current epoch progress is displayed below:

The closer you are to the end of the epoch, the sooner you will be able to withdraw your SOL. Depending on how long you need to wait, you may want to use a tool like Unstake.it to unstake your SOL immediately.

When can I withdraw my destaked SOL?

After you have initiated an unstake request your stake will be flagged as 'deactivating'. Once the epoch has ended, your stake's will become 'deactivated'. This means it is no longer earning any rewards, but it is now available to withdraw. You can withdraw your SOL at any time after it has become deactivated - pretty much as soon as the epoch in which you unstaked has ended.

Do I still earn rewards when I unstake my SOL?

Yes - but only for the rest of the epoch you unstaked in. The reason you need to wait until the end of the epoch to withdraw your SOL is because you will still earn rewards for the rest of the epoch you unstaked in. This ensures the stake distribution between accounts is fair, and helps protect Solana's security. It can be frustrating to wait for your stake to fully deactivate, but on the plus side you continue to earn rewards for the rest of the epoch you unstaked in.