How to Reinstate an Ohio LLC
The short answer. If your Ohio LLC has been canceled, you restore it by filing an application for reinstatement with the Ohio Secretary of State. Ohio allows reinstatement for up to 2 years after the LLC is canceled. The reinstatement fee is $25.
Ohio LLC Reinstatement at a Glance
| What Ohio calls the status | Canceled |
| What you file | Application for Reinstatement |
| Filed with | Ohio Secretary of State |
| How to file | Online or paper |
| Reinstatement fee | $25 |
| Time limit to reinstate | 2 years |
| Tax clearance | Not confirmed |
| Retroactive | Depends (see What reinstatement does) |
Read from the government sources listed at the foot of this page, last checked September 29, 2026. See the sources.
Why Ohio Would Cancel an LLC
Ohio cancels an LLC's articles when it fails to keep a statutory agent continuously or to file a change of its agent's name or address.
The LLC has 30 days to fix the problem before it can be canceled. The 30 days are counted after the Secretary of State mails notice of the default, unless the Secretary of State grants more time.
How Long You Have to Reinstate
Ohio allows reinstatement for up to 2 years after the LLC is canceled.
The Secretary of State's reinstatement form warns that a business that is permanently cancelled cannot be reinstated.
How to File
You file an application for reinstatement with the Ohio Secretary of State. You can file it online or on paper. Go to Ohio's filing page.
What It Costs
The reinstatement fee is $25.
The LLC must file the required appointment of a statutory agent, with the agent's signed acceptance, or the required statement of the agent's changed name or address, with its application.
We have not confirmed whether Ohio requires a tax clearance to reinstate; check with the Ohio Secretary of State.
Registered Agent Options
If your LLC's registered agent has changed, resigned or lapsed, ask the filing office named above whether Ohiowants that updated as part of reinstatement. You do not have to buy a service for it: in most states the LLC's owner, or another individual who qualifies, may serve as its registered agent themselves, generally subject to that state's rules on keeping a street address in the state and being available there during normal business hours. A paid service is one option and not the only one. The Ohio registered agent requirements set out what Ohio itself asks.
Registered agent services for Ohio LLCs
Affiliate disclosure: Northwest Registered Agent, Bizee, ZenBusiness and LegalZoom pay us a commission if you sign up through our link, at no extra cost to you. We list only the registered agent services we have an affiliate relationship with, so this is not a survey of the whole market.
This list is not scored. The four are listed cheapest annual renewal first, and every claim below is about the services listed here rather than the whole market.
- Northwest Registered Agent$125/yr renewal
Best for: Privacy-focused owners and anyone who just needs an agent, not a formation bundle
- Bizee$149/yr renewal
Best for: A free first year on every plan, renewing at $149/yr, if you're comfortable with the BBB caveat
- ZenBusiness$199/yr renewal
Best for: First-time founders forming a new LLC who want phone, email and chat support
- LegalZoom$249/yr renewal
Best for: Complex structures that want attorney consultations, which come with LegalZoom's Pro and Premium formation plans rather than this renewal price
Note: Bizee holds a C rating from the BBB and is not accredited. BBB's profile carries a live alert describing a pattern of complaints about unexpected charges, difficulty canceling and filing delays, and Bizee has posted a response to it. We flag this so you can make an informed choice.
Annual renewal is each provider's own standard published rate. Check the current terms at each provider before you buy. The scored ranking, and the formula behind it, is in our full formation services review →
What Reinstatement Does
On reinstatement the LLC's property, contract and other rights vest in it as if its articles had not been canceled. An act done on its behalf while canceled has the same effect as if there had been no cancellation only if it was within the scope of the articles and the person acting did not know of the cancellation.
The name is reserved for one year after cancellation. After that, if another business has filed a name that is not distinguishable, the LLC must change its name as a condition of reinstatement.
Worth Knowing in Ohio
An LLC may instead appeal a cancellation to the court of common pleas within 30 days after it takes effect. An LLC whose articles have stayed canceled for three years or more without the grounds being cured may be dissolved with the consent of any member or authorized person.
More for Ohio LLCs
- Ohio LLC annual report, to keep the LLC in good standing once it is reinstated.
- Ohio annual report late fee, for what a late report costs before it comes to dissolution.
- Ohio certificate of good standing, to prove the LLC is active again.
- How to dissolve an LLC in Ohio, if you would rather close the LLC properly than reinstate it.
- Annual report deadline finder, to see when the next report is due.
Frequently Asked Questions
This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It reports what each state's law and filing office say about bringing back an LLC the state has dissolved, with the sources this page cites. It cannot tell you where your own LLC stands: that turns on why and when it was dissolved, what it still owes, and whether anyone has since taken its name, and fees and deadlines change between our reviews. Confirm your LLC's status and the current requirements with the filing office or tax agency named on this page, and ask a lawyer about anything the LLC did while it was dissolved. In many states a missed deadline ends the right to reinstate, so do not wait.
Sources
Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified Ohio sources, and each entry says what the document is. Some statutory text is read from an accurate mirror rather than from the state's own host, and those say so.
- codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-1706.09R.C. 1706.09, Legal agents of limited liability companies (division (L))
- codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-1706.46R.C. 1706.46, Cancellation and reinstatement
- codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-1706.461R.C. 1706.461, Appeals
- codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-1706.47R.C. 1706.47, Dissolution
- codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-111.16R.C. 111.16, Secretary of State fees (division (Q))
- codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5733.20R.C. 5733.20, Cancellation of articles of corporation for failure to report or pay
- ohiosos.gov/businesses/filing-forms--fee-schedule/Ohio Secretary of State, Filing Forms and Fee Schedule
- ohiosos.gov/assets/525a.pdfOhio Secretary of State Form 525A, Reinstatement & Appointment of Agent (Last Revised 10/2024)
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Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC
Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.