Cancelling a streaming subscription takes about a minute — once you are cancelling in the right place. The reason so many people cancel and keep getting charged has nothing to do with the steps. It is that they cancelled somewhere that was never taking their money.
Start here: where do you actually pay?
The rule that saves the most trouble: you cancel where you pay, not where you watch.
If you signed up through an app store, that store is billing you. Cancelling inside the streaming app achieves nothing — the app has no control over the payment, and the charge simply continues.
| How you signed up | Where you must cancel |
|---|---|
| Directly on the service’s website | The service’s own account page |
| Through Apple or the App Store | iPhone or iPad Settings → Subscriptions |
| Through Google Play | Play Store → Payments & subscriptions |
| Through Amazon Channels | Your Amazon account |
| Bundled with broadband, TV or mobile | Your broadband or mobile provider |
How to check in ten seconds
Do not try to remember how you signed up years ago. Look at your bank or card statement. If the payment shows as Apple or Google rather than the streaming service, you are being billed through the app store — cancel there. If it shows the service’s own name, cancel on its website.
That one check removes all the guesswork.
Cancelling each service directly
Netflix
- Sign in and select your profile icon
- Go to Account
- Under Membership and Billing, select Cancel Membership
- Confirm
Disney+
- Sign in at disneyplus.com
- Select your profile icon, then Account
- Under Subscription, select your subscription
- Select Cancel Subscription and follow the prompts
NOW
- Sign in and go to Membership & Payment
- Select the membership or viewing experience you want to end
- Select Cancel membership and follow the steps
NOW recommends doing this on a desktop, laptop or tablet rather than a phone. You should see a confirmation on screen and receive a confirmation email within about three hours — if neither arrives, it did not go through.
Prime Video
Handled through your Amazon account, and there is a distinction worth understanding before you click:
- Cancelling Prime Video only ends the video service
- Cancelling Amazon Prime ends the whole membership — delivery benefits included
These are different actions. Choose deliberately.
Cancelling through Apple or Google
On an iPhone or iPad: open Settings, tap your name, tap Subscriptions, tap the subscription, then Cancel Subscription. You may need to scroll down to find it.
On Android: open the Play Store, tap your profile photo, tap Payments & subscriptions, then Subscriptions, tap the one you want and select Cancel subscription.
Both routes work regardless of what the streaming service’s own app says.
What happens after you cancel
- You keep access until the end of the period you have paid for. Cancelling does not cut you off that day.
- Your downloads are deleted. This one catches people out — cancelling Netflix removes downloaded titles from your device, so anything saved for a flight goes with it. More detail in our guide to downloading Netflix titles.
- Profiles and viewing history are usually retained for a period, so rejoining soon afterwards often restores your recommendations. Leave it long enough and it is gone.
- Nothing stops you returning. There is no penalty for cancelling and resubscribing later.
Refunds
Be realistic here. Netflix’s terms state that payments are non-refundable, while also reserving the right to offer a refund, discount or other consideration at its discretion. In practice that means a refund is something you can ask for, not something you are owed under the terms.
If you have been charged after cancelling — the app-store situation above being much the commonest cause — that is a different conversation, and it is worth contacting the service or the app store directly.
Cancel now or wait until renewal?
Cancel now.
Since access continues to the end of the paid period, waiting gains you nothing at all. It only creates an opportunity to forget and be charged for another month. If you know you are finished with a service, ending it immediately is strictly better.
A related habit worth adopting: many households pay for three or four services and actively watch one. Rotating — subscribing to one at a time, cancelling when you have finished what you wanted — costs considerably less than running them all permanently, and cancelling is designed to be reversible precisely because services expect you to come back.
Frequently asked questions
I cancelled but I’m still being charged. Why?
Almost always because the billing runs through Apple, Google or Amazon rather than the service itself. Check your statement to see who is taking the payment, and cancel there.
Do I lose access immediately?
No. You keep it until the end of the period you have already paid for.
Will I lose my downloads?
Yes. Cancelling deletes downloaded titles from your device — worth remembering before a holiday.
Can I get a refund for an unused month?
Netflix’s terms describe payments as non-refundable, though it may choose to offer one. It is worth asking rather than assuming.
Will my profiles still be there if I come back?
Usually, if you return reasonably soon. After a longer gap the data is removed.
In short
Find out who is billing you, cancel there, and do it as soon as you have decided — you lose nothing by cancelling early, and quite possibly a month’s fee by waiting.
For other UK streaming questions, see our UK streaming help guide.
