How to cancel YouTube Premium (October 2026): web, Android, iPhone

YouTube's cancel flow has a trap: the Deactivate button leads to a choice between pausing and cancelling. Pausing is not cancelling. If you want the charges to stop for good, pick Continue to cancel.

Where to cancel (who bills you)

How to cancel YouTube Premium

On a computer

1. Go to youtube.com/paid_memberships.
2. Click Manage membership.
3. Click Deactivate.
4. Click Continue to cancel (not pause).
5. Select your reason for canceling and click Next.
6. Click Yes, cancel.

In the YouTube app on Android

1. Tap your profile picture, then Paid memberships.
2. Tap the membership you want to cancel.
3. Tap Continue to cancel.
4. Select your reason and tap Next, then Yes, cancel.

If Apple bills you (joined in the iOS app)

1. Open Settings on your iPhone or iPad and tap your name at the top.
2. Tap Subscriptions.
3. Tap YouTube.
4. Tap Cancel Subscription (or Cancel Free Trial), then confirm.

If Google Play bills you

1. On Android, open Subscriptions in Google Play (same Google Account that has the subscription).
2. Select YouTube.
3. Tap Cancel subscription and follow the instructions.
4. Uninstalling the app does not cancel the subscription; you keep access for the time already paid (Google Play Help).

How to know it worked

You're done when:

• The Status field at youtube.com/paid_memberships shows the membership as cancelled, with the date benefits end. YouTube Help suggests this exact check.
• No new YouTube charge appears after that date.

YouTube says you won't be charged again unless you re-subscribe, and benefits continue until the end of the billing period.

If it didn't work

• There's no cancel option. You're probably billed by Apple (joined from the iOS app) or Google Play - use the matching row in the table above.
• You chose Pause by mistake. A paused membership isn't cancelled. Go back to youtube.com/paid_memberships and cancel from there.
• You're not sure it worked. Check the Status field on youtube.com/paid_memberships.
• A charge still appeared. It may be the current billing cycle, or a membership on a different Google Account - sign in with each account you use and check paid memberships.
• Pre-paid plans. YouTube says pre-paid plans don't renew automatically and can't be paused, so there's nothing to cancel - they simply run out.

What we verified

Verified on official YouTube Help pages (October 18, 2026): the computer and Android cancel steps and button names; the Apple and Google Play billing routes; the Status check; benefits continuing to the end of the billing period; membership types (individual monthly, pre-paid up to 24 months, family up to 6 people, two-person, student up to 4 years with annual verification); cancel, pause or resume being available.

Not verified - left out: all US dollar prices (youtube.com/premium didn't return prices to our checks, and we don't cite news reports for prices); price-increase dates; the higher in-app price on iPhone; pause durations; refunds; bundles with other Google plans.

Which YouTube membership do you have?

Source: YouTube Help: Join YouTube Premium. Prices: youtube.com/premium.

Pause instead of cancelling

YouTube says paid members can cancel, pause or resume at any time. Pausing keeps your membership but stops it for a while; cancelling ends it. Pre-paid plans can't be paused. If you only need a break, Pause is the option shown next to Continue to cancel.

Family and two-person plans

If you manage a family or two-person plan, cancelling ends the benefits for everyone on it when the billing period ends. Tell members first, and remember that members don't pay - only the manager can cancel the plan.