If your Solana wallet is full of dead memecoins, spam tokens and tokens that no longer have a market, you can destroy them permanently and get back the SOL deposit held by their accounts. That's what burning does.
How do you burn tokens on Solana?
Connect your wallet to Sol Incinerator, switch to Pro Mode, pick the tokens to destroy, review the preview and approve. Each burn permanently destroys the tokens and closes their account, so the account's SOL deposit comes back to you, minus fees.
What does burning a token actually do?
Burning isn't the same as sending a token somewhere you can't reach. It calls the token program's burn instruction, which permanently reduces the token's total supply on-chain. The tokens stop existing; they aren't sitting in a wallet waiting to be recovered.
That matters because a common shortcut looks like burning but isn't: sending tokens to the 1nc1nerator11111111111111111111111111111111 address. It's Solana's well-known burn address, but tokens sent there are stranded, not destroyed. The supply never goes down and no SOL comes back. Already sent some there? Our burn address guide shows how the stuck tokens tool can still burn them properly; it costs 0.5 SOL plus the network fee and returns no SOL.
Why does burning give you SOL back?
Every token account on Solana holds a refundable SOL deposit, its rent-exempt reserve, and that deposit goes to the account's owner when the account is closed. Solana cut its rent rate in two steps in September 2026, so the size depends on when the account was opened: a standard SPL token account holds 0.00203928 SOL if it was opened under the original rent setting, or 0.00148844 SOL if opened at the current rate (checked October 7, 2026). Accounts opened between the two cuts hold an amount in between.
The catch: Solana refuses to close a token account that still holds tokens. So a token you don't want creates a deadlock: the account holds a balance you don't care about, and that balance blocks the refund of a deposit you do care about.
Burning breaks the deadlock. The burn destroys the balance, the account closes, and the deposit comes back.
This is why burning and closing are different operations that often happen together. If an account is already empty, there's nothing to burn; you just close it. Burning vs. Closing Solana Token Accounts covers the difference in depth.
How much SOL do you get for burning a token?
You get back whatever deposit the closed account held, minus fees:
| What you burn | What comes back (before fees) |
|---|---|
| SPL token | 0.00203928 SOL for an account from before the September cuts, 0.00148844 SOL for one opened since September 11 |
| Token-2022 token | 0.00207408 SOL (before the cuts) or 0.00151384 SOL (since September 11) for the usual 170-byte account; extensions that add data raise it |
| LP token | The same token-account deposit (LP tokens need Dev mode) |
| Standard or programmable NFT | More than a token account, because other accounts can close with it; see our NFT burn guide |
| Compressed NFT | 0 SOL: it has no token account or deposit of its own, so the burn just clears it from your wallet |
You keep most of each deposit because our base fee is 2%. Each token account also has a minimum fee, which raises that rate on accounts opened since the rent cuts and on Token-2022 accounts; NFT burns have their own minimums, highest for programmable NFTs. Before you approve, the preview shows what's expected to reach your wallet, and our table of rent by account type lists the exact reserves for common accounts.
Step-by-step: burning tokens with Sol Incinerator
- Open Sol Incinerator and connect your wallet. Phantom, Solflare, Backpack, Trust Wallet, OKX, Exodus and wallets that support WalletConnect all work. The scan is read-only: you don't sign anything to see what's in your wallet.
- Switch to Pro Mode using the toggle in the footer. The default Fun Mode is deliberately non-destructive: it closes empty accounts and withdraws eligible surplus deposits, and it can't burn anything.
- Review the token list. Sol Incinerator reads your balances and shows what each position is worth, so you aren't burning blind.
- Select the tokens you want to destroy. Take your time here; this is the step that matters.
- Review the preview, then approve. A burn is final. Large selections may need several wallet approvals.
- Check your balance. The SOL lands in your wallet once the transactions confirm.
Out of SOL for network fees? If your burn qualifies, Gasless Pay pays them for you automatically and takes its charge from the SOL the burn returns.
Burning is irreversible. There's no undo, no admin override and no recovery process. Before you approve, make sure every token in the list is one you want destroyed, especially anything you might be holding long term or as a locked or vesting allocation.
How do you avoid burning something valuable?
The real risk is picking the wrong token. Sol Incinerator has a few safety layers built around that:
- Fun Mode is the default. Burning is opt-in. If you never leave Fun Mode, nothing you hold can be destroyed.
- Valuable assets are hidden by default in Pro Mode. Anything above a USD value threshold is filtered out of the burn list, so it can't be swept up in a big selection.
- Large burns ask for an extra confirmation before they go through.
- LP tokens are gated behind Dev mode, one step further than Pro Mode. LP positions are easy to mistake for junk, so they live in their own tab that you have to turn on deliberately.
If a token still has a market, consider swapping it instead of burning it. You get the sale value, and the empty account can be closed afterwards.
What if the token has no buyers at all?
Burning is the right call for tokens with no value. But if you paid real money for a token that's now worthless, you have another option: selling it instead of destroying it. The Tax Loss Harvester can sell an illiquid token for 1 lamport, creating a sale record for a position with no market to sell into. Burning destroys the asset; selling creates a transaction with a counterparty. This isn't tax advice; ask a tax professional about your own situation.
Does this work for Token-2022?
Yes. Sol Incinerator burns and closes accounts from both the classic SPL Token program and Token-2022. That matters more every year: in 2026 through October 6, Token-2022 accounts made up 46.1% of the token accounts burned through Sol Incinerator, according to our burn statistics.
Close empty accounts before you burn
Before burning anything, see what you can recover without destroying anything. Selling or sending a token can leave its empty account behind, still holding its deposit, and closing it puts nothing you hold at risk. That's what Fun Mode does, and checking your wallet costs nothing.
Sol Incinerator
Connect your wallet and see how much SOL you can get back from burning dead tokens and closing empty accounts.