How to cancel unwanted subscriptions: a step by step guide for parents

If you want to know how to cancel unwanted subscriptions, the short answer is to cancel each one where it was set up. Start with your phone's subscription settings, because that's where most app and game subscriptions live. Next, check any online payment account you use for automatic payments. Then log in to the provider's own website or account for anything paid directly. Only if those fail should you ask your card issuer to stop the payments. Work through them in that order and keep a note of each one you cancel.

For parents there's an extra layer. Family phones, tablets, consoles and smart TVs all come with their own accounts, and children are very good at finding the "start trial" button. So alongside the steps below, this guide covers how to spot subscriptions the kids have started, how to cancel them without a row, and how to stop new ones appearing.

Before you start: make a cancel list

Spend ten minutes getting everything in front of you before you cancel anything. It's quicker in the long run.

1. Go through the last two or three months of bank and card statements. Write down every repeating payment you don't recognise or no longer want.
2. Check every card in the house. That includes a partner's card if it's linked to a family account, and any card saved on a child's device.
3. Note the name on the statement. It's often slightly different from the brand name, which is a clue to where it was bought (a phone's app store, a payment service or the company itself).
4. Mark the ones to keep. It's easy to get carried away. The film service the whole family uses on a Friday night might be worth keeping, even if the music one isn't.

If you've never done a full sweep, our guide on how to keep track of subscriptions walks through all the places they hide. This guide is about getting rid of them.

How to cancel unwanted subscriptions in four steps

The order matters. Each step catches a different kind of subscription, and the last one is a safety net rather than a first move.

Step 1: your phone's subscription settings

Most app, game and streaming subscriptions bought on a phone or tablet are billed through the device's app store, not by the app's maker. That means you cancel them in the phone's settings.

• Open your phone's settings and find the subscriptions section, usually under your account name or the app store's own settings.
• You'll see active subscriptions and, often, expired ones. Tap each unwanted one and choose to cancel.
• Do the same on every device in the house that's signed into a different account, including the kids' tablets.
• If you use family sharing, check whether purchases on children's accounts are billed to yours. They usually are.

Remember that deleting an app doesn't cancel its subscription. It just removes the app.

Step 2: online payment accounts

If you've ever paid for something with an online payment service instead of typing in your card, check that account too.

• Log in and look for a section on automatic payments, approved merchants or pre-approved payments.
• Cancel any you no longer want. This stops that business taking future payments through that account.
• Then cancel the subscription with the business as well (Step 3), so you're not left with an account that still thinks you're a member.

Step 3: the provider's own account

Anything you signed up for on a company's website, such as a meal kit, a magazine, a kids' learning service or a gym, usually has to be cancelled with the company.

• Log in and look for "account", "membership", "billing" or "manage plan". The cancel option is often at the bottom of that page.
• If there's no online option, use the contact details in your welcome email or terms. Ask for written confirmation of the cancellation and the date it takes effect.
• Check the terms for a notice period or a minimum term. Some memberships need a month's notice, or run until the end of a contract.
• Don't be talked into a pause or a cheaper plan unless you actually want it. "I'd like to cancel, please" is enough.

Step 4: your card issuer, as a last resort

If a company won't stop taking money, or you can't find any way to cancel, you can go to your bank or card provider.

According to the Financial Conduct Authority (the FCA), recurring card payments (sometimes called continuous payment authorities) can be cancelled directly with your card issuer, and once you've asked, the issuer must stop them even if you haven't contacted the business. Ask by the end of the business day before the next payment is due. A few things to keep in mind:

• It doesn't end the contract. Stopping the payment doesn't necessarily cancel your agreement with the business, and you're still responsible for anything you owe under it. That's why Steps 1 to 3 come first.
• Tell the business where you can. The FCA suggests letting the company know before you cancel the payment.
• Payments after you've cancelled should be refunded. If money is taken after you've asked your issuer to stop it, the FCA says the issuer must refund it. If that doesn't happen, make a complaint.

Check the current guidance on the FCA website before you rely on it, as rules can change.

Cancelling the kids' subscriptions

Children's subscriptions tend to be small, monthly and easy to miss. The usual suspects are game passes and in-game memberships, video and music apps, learning or reading apps, extra storage on a device, and "premium" versions of free games.

A few things make this easier:

• Do it together, if they're old enough. Sit down with each child's device and go through the subscriptions screen with them. It's a decent money lesson, and you'll find things faster with someone who knows what they've signed up to.
• Check consoles and smart TVs separately. These often have their own accounts and payment details, separate from the phone.
• Look at older kids' own cards. If a teenager has their own bank card, their subscriptions may not show on your statements at all. It's worth a friendly check now and then.
• Turn on purchase approval. Most phones and consoles let a parent approve purchases on a child's account, so new subscriptions need your say-so. Look in the family or parental settings on each device.

Keeping them cancelled

Cancelling once is good. Not having to do it again is better.

• Keep the confirmation. Screenshot each cancellation screen, or save the email, with the date. You'll want it if a charge turns up later.
• Check the next statement. A day or two after the next payment would have been taken, look for it. If it's gone, cross it off your list.
• Watch for free trials. Most unwanted subscriptions start as a trial someone meant to cancel. Our guide on how to remember to cancel a free trial has a simple routine for this.
• Make it a monthly habit. A ten-minute look through your statement once a month, perhaps on the same day as the school dinner money top-up, keeps the list honest.
• Agree a house rule. For example: nobody starts a trial or subscription without telling the person who pays for it. It won't catch everything, but it helps.

If subscriptions are just one part of the paperwork piling up, our life admin checklist covers the rest of the family's regular jobs.

Where mylife/ fits

Once the clear-out is done, mylife/ can hold the subscriptions you've decided to keep. Its subscriptions ledger lists each one with the provider, what it costs and when it next renews, and they count towards a monthly total of what you're really paying. You get a nudge before each renewal, in time to cancel. mylife/ doesn't read your bank or email: you add each one yourself or tell Slash, your mate, about it in a sentence. If that sounds useful, you can see the plans, each of which starts with a 3-day free trial.

Frequently asked questions

What is the easiest way to cancel a subscription?

Cancel it where you signed up. For most app and game subscriptions that's your phone's subscription settings, for others it's the provider's own account page or an online payment account. Your card issuer can also stop recurring card payments, but that's best kept as a last resort.

Can my bank cancel a subscription for me?

Your bank or card provider can stop recurring card payments, and according to the FCA it must do so once you ask, even if you haven't contacted the business. That stops the money, but it doesn't necessarily end your contract with the company, so cancel with them too where you can.

How do I stop my child signing up to subscriptions?

Turn on purchase approval in the family or parental settings on their phone, tablet or console, so any purchase or subscription needs your agreement. It's also worth checking their devices together every so often and removing saved card details you didn't mean to leave there.

Why am I still being charged after cancelling a subscription?

It could be a notice period, a payment for a period you've already started, or a cancellation that didn't go through. Check your confirmation and the account page, then contact the company with your proof. If payments are taken after you've asked your card issuer to stop them, the FCA says the issuer must refund them.