How to Cancel YouTube Premium on Web, Android and iPhone

To cancel YouTube Premium, sign in to YouTube, tap or click your profile picture, open your paid memberships (it may be called Purchases and memberships), choose YouTube Premium and follow the prompts to cancel. It takes a minute on the web or in the YouTube app.

The one exception: if you subscribed inside the YouTube app on an iPhone or iPad and Apple bills you, you have to cancel in Settings → your name → Subscriptions instead. Either way, you keep Premium until the end of the period you've paid for.

Menus change, and Google sometimes renames these screens, so if yours look different, check YouTube's help center for the current steps.

The fastest way to cancel YouTube Premium#

If Google bills you, which is the case when you signed up on the web or in the Android app, any of these routes work. The web is the most reliable.

1. Go to youtube.com in a browser and sign in with the Google account that has Premium.
2. Click your profile picture.
3. Open Purchases and memberships or Paid memberships. You can also go straight to youtube.com/paid_memberships.
4. Find YouTube Premium and open its membership settings.
5. Choose to cancel (YouTube may call it deactivate). You may be offered a pause first; you can decline it.
6. Confirm.

When it works, the membership page shows the date your benefits end, and Google usually emails a confirmation. Keep that email until the date passes.

Check which Google account you're on#

Many people have more than one Google account, such as a personal one and a work or school one, or an old address. YouTube Premium belongs to one specific account. If you don't see Premium in your memberships, switch accounts from your profile picture and check again.

How to cancel YouTube Premium on Android#

On Android, you can cancel inside the YouTube app.

1. Open the YouTube app.
2. Tap your profile picture.
3. Tap Purchases and memberships (the name may vary).
4. Tap YouTube Premium, then the option to manage or cancel it.
5. Follow the prompts and confirm.

The same steps work in the YouTube Music app, since it's the same membership.

YouTube Premium is a Google subscription managed from YouTube's own membership page, so that's the place to look first. If you subscribed in some other way and see it in the Play Store's list, you can also cancel at Play Store → profile picture → Payments & subscriptions → Subscriptions. Uninstalling YouTube does not cancel Premium. For the Play Store side in general, see how to cancel subscriptions on Android and Google Play.

How to cancel YouTube Premium on iPhone: Apple-billed vs Google-billed#

On iPhone, the right method depends on who charges you. There are two possibilities, and it takes ten seconds to find out which one is yours.

Step one: check Apple's list. Open Settings → your name → Subscriptions. If YouTube Premium (or YouTube) appears there, Apple bills you.

If Apple bills you#

1. In Settings → your name → Subscriptions, tap the YouTube subscription.
2. Tap Cancel Subscription and confirm.

You can also do this at apps.apple.com/account/subscriptions. YouTube's own membership page can't stop an Apple-billed subscription, even though it shows your Premium status, because anything billed through Apple has to be cancelled through Apple. Our guide on how to cancel subscriptions on iPhone covers that list in detail.

If Google bills you#

If YouTube isn't in Apple's list, you probably signed up on the web or on an Android device, and Google bills you.

1. Open the YouTube app on your iPhone, or youtube.com in Safari.
2. Tap your profile picture and open Purchases and memberships.
3. Choose YouTube Premium and cancel.

If the app doesn't show a cancel option, use the website in Safari, which handles Google billing reliably.

Here's a summary:

Your card statement is a good tiebreaker. A charge with Google or YouTube in the name means Google bills you. A charge from Apple (often APPLE.COM/BILL) means Apple does.

Cancelling YouTube Premium family plans: managers vs members#

A YouTube Premium family plan is shared through a Google family group. One person, the family manager, pays, and up to several family members share the benefits.

If you're the family manager:

• Cancel the same way as above, from your paid memberships (or through Apple if Apple bills you).
• When the paid period ends, everyone in the family loses Premium.
• Tell your family before the end date so nobody is surprised when ads return and downloads stop.

If you're a family member:

• You can't cancel the plan, because you don't pay for it.
• You can leave the family group from your Google account's family settings, which ends your access to the shared plan.
• Leaving doesn't stop the manager's charges. If the plan should end, the manager has to cancel it.

If the plan is well used, cancelling may not be the answer. Splitting the cost fairly often works better. Our guide on how to share and split subscription costs with family has simple ways to do it.

What happens after you cancel YouTube Premium#

Cancelling stops the next renewal. Your Premium benefits continue until the end of the billing period you've already paid for. After that, here's what changes in general terms:

• Ads come back on videos.
• Downloads stop working. Videos and music you downloaded for offline viewing are no longer available to play once Premium ends.
• Background play stops, so audio pauses when you leave the app or lock your screen.
• YouTube Music Premium ends too, since it's part of YouTube Premium. You're back to the free version of YouTube Music.
• Your account stays. Your channel subscriptions, playlists, likes and watch history are tied to your Google account, not to Premium.
• No more charges unless you rejoin.

Cancelling doesn't refund the current period. If you think a charge was a mistake, contact YouTube support, or Apple if Apple bills you. Refunds are their decision, so check their help pages rather than counting on one.

Pausing instead of cancelling#

YouTube sometimes offers a pause when you cancel, which stops billing for a set time and resumes automatically. That's handy if you know you'll be back, but remember it restarts on its own. If you pause, set a reminder for the day before it resumes.

A worked example: is YouTube Premium worth keeping?#

Say you pay, for example, $13.99 a month for an individual plan. Over a year, that's $13.99 × 12 = $167.88.

If you mainly use Premium for background play during a commute and you only commute a few months of the year, paying just for those months makes a difference. Four months costs $13.99 × 4 = $55.96, which saves $167.88 − $55.96 = $111.92 a year.

For a family plan, for example $22.99 a month, a year costs $22.99 × 12 = $275.88. Split five ways, that's $275.88 ÷ 5 = $55.18 per person per year. If only two people still use it, each is effectively paying $275.88 ÷ 2 = $137.94, and an individual plan for the heaviest user might be cheaper overall.

Also check for overlap. If you already pay for a separate music service, YouTube Music Premium may be doing the same job. Our guide on how much you're really spending on subscriptions shows how to spot overlaps like this.

How to rejoin YouTube Premium#

Rejoining takes a minute, and your account is as you left it.

1. Sign in to YouTube with the same Google account.
2. Open your profile picture and choose to get YouTube Premium, or go to your paid memberships.
3. Pick a plan and confirm payment.

Tips:

• Check the price before confirming, since plans and prices change. Compare it with what you paid before.
• Choose where to subscribe. Subscribing on the web keeps Google as your biller. Subscribing in the iPhone app may put the charge on your Apple ID, which changes where you cancel next time.
• Re-download offline content after rejoining, because previous downloads may need refreshing.

Troubleshooting: when you can't cancel YouTube Premium#

More things to check:

• Old Google accounts. Search your inbox for YouTube or Google receipts to see which account is being charged.
• A paused membership. A pause ends and billing restarts automatically. Check the resume date on your memberships page.
• Partner bundles. If Premium came with a phone or broadband plan, cancel with that partner.

If a charge keeps appearing and nobody can explain it, contact your bank or card issuer. Our guide on finding every subscription you're paying for helps you check everywhere at once.

Keep track of when YouTube Premium renews#

Premium is easy to forget because it just quietly removes ads. The charge only gets noticed when you look at a statement.

The manual fix is a calendar reminder a couple of days before your renewal date, or before a pause ends. If you track more than a few subscriptions, Monthlee can keep them in one list and remind you on the day or 1, 2, 3 or 7 days before each charge, without connecting a bank account. It also includes cancel guides with direct links to cancellation pages for popular services.

The bottom line#

To cancel YouTube Premium, open your paid memberships from your profile picture on youtube.com or in the YouTube app, choose Premium and cancel. On iPhone, check Settings → your name → Subscriptions first: if YouTube is listed, Apple bills you and you cancel there.

Family managers are the only ones who can cancel a family plan; members can leave the family group. You keep Premium until the paid period ends, then ads return and downloads and background play stop, while your account and playlists stay put.