To cancel SiteGround hosting, back up your website and email first, decide what to do with your domain, then open your Client Area and go to Services > Hosting > Settings, click the three-dot menu next to the plan, and select Cancel. The whole click-path takes a minute. The preparation around it is what keeps you from losing files, mailboxes, or a domain name you still want.
Back Up Your Site and Email First
Once your hosting plan is canceled, SiteGround deletes your website data, including files, databases, and email accounts tied to the plan.1SiteGround. Does My Website Get Deleted When I Cancel My Hosting Plan SiteGround’s automatic backups go with it. You can’t log in and pull them later.
For your website files, go to Site Tools > Site > File Manager, right-click the public_html folder, choose Archive, and download the archive. FTP works too. For the database, export it from Site Tools > Site > MySQL > phpMyAdmin.2SiteGround. How to Download a Full Backup of My Website
Email is the piece people forget. Hosted mailboxes are deleted along with the rest of the account. SiteGround’s webmail will export messages one at a time in .eml format through Site Tools > Email > Accounts, which is fine for a handful of messages and miserable for a full inbox.3SiteGround. How to Back Up and Restore Email Messages in Webmail The practical fix is to connect a desktop client like Thunderbird or Outlook to the mailbox over IMAP, let it sync everything down, and keep that local copy.
Decide What Happens to Your Domain
Canceling hosting does not cancel your domain. Domain registrations and domain-related services keep running and keep billing after the hosting is gone.4SiteGround. When Canceling a Hosting Plan, Will Related Extra Services Be Canceled You have three realistic choices: transfer the domain to another registrar, leave it registered at SiteGround while you move hosting elsewhere, or let it expire.
If you’re transferring the domain, you’ll usually need an EPP authorization code. Open your Client Area > Services > Domains > Settings, click the three-dot menu, and select Get EPP Code. The code is emailed to you.5SiteGround. How to Transfer Your Domain Name to Another Registrar Some extensions don’t use EPP codes; if the button isn’t there, yours is one of them.
Check the renewal date and the lock status before you cancel hosting. If the domain lapses while you’re focused on the hosting side, someone else can register it.
Most other add-on services attached to the hosting plan are canceled automatically along with it. Domains and domain-related services are the exception and have to be handled separately.4SiteGround. When Canceling a Hosting Plan, Will Related Extra Services Be Canceled
How to Submit the Cancellation
With backups saved and the domain sorted, open the Client Area:
- Go to Services > Hosting.
- Click Settings next to the plan you want to end.
- Click the three-dot menu on the right and select Cancel.
- Choose when the cancellation should take effect, click Continue, and work through the remaining prompts.
You get two timing options. Immediate cancellation suspends the account right away. End-of-cycle lets you keep using the hosting through the period you’ve already paid for.6SiteGround. How Do I Cancel My Hosting SiteGround shows a confirmation summary before finalizing. Read it, especially if more than one hosting plan sits on the account. After you confirm, the dashboard updates and an automated confirmation email goes out. Keep it.
Turning Off Auto-Renewal Is Not the Same as Canceling
These get confused often enough to cost people money. Turning off auto-renewal stops the next charge but leaves your current plan running until it expires on its own. Submitting a cancellation ends the service.
To disable auto-renewal without canceling, go to Client Area > Services > Hosting > Settings, click the three-dot menu, choose Renewal Settings, and toggle auto-renewal off.7SiteGround. How to Stop the Automatic Billing for My Hosting Plan On plans with a renewal period of 12 months or longer, the auto-renewal charge runs 15 days before the expiration date, so you need to flip the switch before that window opens.
If you want to ride out time you’ve already paid for and then walk away, auto-renewal off is enough. If you want out now, or want a refund, submit the cancellation.
What Happens After You Cancel
The dashboard updates to show the pending status. With an immediate cancellation, your site goes offline as soon as the request processes. With end-of-cycle, it stays live until the paid period runs out.
Your data isn’t wiped the moment the account is suspended. For shared hosting plans, SiteGround keeps a copy for up to 60 calendar days. For cloud hosting plans, the retention window is 7 to 14 days. After that, files, databases, and backups are permanently removed.8SiteGround. Will You Terminate My Hosting Account Immediately After I Cancel It
If you change your mind inside that window, you can reactivate by going to Client Area > Billing > Renewals and paying to renew.9SiteGround. How to Restore a Deleted Website Treat it as a safety net, not a plan. On cloud, a week can disappear quickly.
Getting a Refund
Whether you get money back comes down to timing and what you bought.
New Plans
Shared hosting plans carry a 30-day money-back guarantee. Cloud hosting plans have a 14-day window.10SiteGround. What Is Your Refund Policy Cancel inside that period and you can get a full refund of the hosting fees. The clock starts the day you signed up, and this only covers the initial purchase.
Auto-Renewals You Didn’t Want
If a renewal charge went through and you didn’t mean to continue, SiteGround will issue a full refund if you cancel within 30 days of the renewal payment and the new term hasn’t started yet. If the new term has already started, you can still get a partial refund within that same 30 days, equal to the renewal fee minus the cost of the first month of the new term.10SiteGround. What Is Your Refund Policy
What You Won’t Get Back
Domain registration fees aren’t refundable, even when the domain came free with a promotional plan.10SiteGround. What Is Your Refund Policy Paid support services and third-party add-ons are also excluded from the money-back guarantee.
Refund requests have to be submitted through the Client Area. Email and phone requests don’t count. Once SiteGround processes the refund, the money takes a few business days to appear, depending on your payment provider.