To cancel an Xbox subscription, sign in at account.microsoft.com/services, find the subscription in your list, click Manage, and turn off recurring billing. The whole thing takes about two minutes in a web browser, and you keep access to your plan until the current billing period ends.
Cancel in a Web Browser
This is the fastest route and works on any device, phone included.
- Go to account.microsoft.com/services and sign in with the Microsoft account tied to your Xbox profile.
- Find your Xbox subscription in the list (Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Essential, PC Game Pass, or whichever plan you have).
- Click Manage next to it.
- Select the option to cancel or turn off recurring billing.
- Follow the confirmation prompts. Microsoft shows you the date your current period expires before you finalize.
Once you confirm, a confirmation email goes to the address on file, and the subscription’s status updates to show an expiration date instead of a next billing date.1Xbox Support. Xbox Subscription Cancellations and Refunds Expect a few screens along the way offering to pause your plan or downgrade it. Keep clicking through if you’ve made up your mind.
If you’ve forgotten your password, reset it through Microsoft’s account recovery page first. Logging in with a different email will show a different set of subscriptions, or none.
Cancel From Your Xbox Console
From the Xbox home screen, open Settings, go to Account, then Subscriptions. Pick the subscription you want to end and choose to turn off recurring billing. The console runs you through the same confirmation prompts and the same expiration date as the browser version. It’s the same action either way; the browser is just easier to navigate without a controller.
Cancel From Your Phone
The Xbox mobile app does not handle subscription management. Open your phone’s web browser instead and go to account.microsoft.com/services. The steps from there match the browser method above.
If You Subscribed Through a Third Party
Check who actually charges you. If you signed up through the Apple App Store, Google Play, or a mobile carrier, Microsoft’s dashboard will point you to that provider’s portal rather than let you cancel directly.2Microsoft Support. Change Your Microsoft Subscription Payment Method and Options You have to cancel through whichever company does the billing.
Refunds
Not every cancellation comes with a refund. Microsoft decides eligibility automatically during the cancellation flow, so you’ll see what’s available before you finalize.3Microsoft Support. Microsoft Subscription Refund Policy Refunds are most common right after a purchase or renewal; the further into a billing cycle you are, the less likely one becomes.
Prorated refunds depend on where you live. In Canada, France, Denmark, Israel, Korea, and Türkiye, you can cancel at any time and get a prorated refund for the unused portion of the period. In most other countries, including the United States, prorated refunds are not available.3Microsoft Support. Microsoft Subscription Refund Policy
One trade-off worth knowing: if you take an immediate refund, your access ends right away rather than continuing through the paid period. If you’re mid-way through a game you want to finish, simply turning off recurring billing is usually the better move.
What Happens After You Cancel
When you turn off recurring billing without taking an immediate refund, the subscription stays active until the current period expires.1Xbox Support. Xbox Subscription Cancellations and Refunds Everything works normally in the meantime: online multiplayer, the game library, cloud saves, and any other perks tied to your plan.
After the expiration date, games you downloaded through Game Pass lock and won’t launch. The files stay on the hard drive, so a future resubscription doesn’t require re-downloading, but you can’t play them without an active plan or a separate purchase. Save data and achievements stay attached to your Microsoft account permanently. Nothing is deleted because a subscription lapses.
Past-Due Balances and Locked Accounts
If a payment failed and the subscription has a past-due balance, you’ll see a Pay now option next to it on your account page. Microsoft requires a credit card, PayPal, or another online payment method to clear the balance; gift cards and Microsoft account credit don’t work for past-due payments.4Microsoft Support. Pay for a Past-Due Microsoft Subscription
If the account is locked and you can’t reach the subscription page at all, contact Microsoft support directly. Go to support.microsoft.com, select Get Help, and request a chat or callback. You may need to sign in with a different Microsoft account just to open the contact form. A support agent can process the cancellation when the self-service tools won’t.