How to Cancel YouTube Premium (or Pause Up to 6 Months)

YouTube Premium at a glance

The April 13, 2026 increase moved Individual from $13.99 to $15.99, Family from $22.99 to $26.99, Lite from $7.99 to $8.99, and standalone Music from $10.99 to $11.99, per press coverage. New sign-ups paid the new rates immediately; existing members followed at their June 2026 billing cycle, so as of September 2026 the new prices are the prices.

Google does commit to warning you: "We'll notify you via email at least 30 days ahead of a price increase in your country/territory," per its own help pages.

How do you cancel YouTube Premium on a computer?

Google documents these exact labels, and the same flow covers a standalone YouTube Music Premium membership:

1. Go to youtube.com/paid_memberships and sign in.
2. Click "Manage membership."
3. Click "Deactivate."
4. Click "Continue" to cancel.
5. Select your reason for canceling, then click "Next."
6. Click "Yes, cancel."

That is the whole chain. The aftermath is just as plain: "When you cancel your membership, you won't be charged again unless you re-subscribe." Benefits run to the end of the period you paid for.

How do you cancel on Android or through Google Play?

In the Android app: tap your profile picture, tap "Paid memberships," select the membership, tap "Continue," pick a reason, then tap "Yes, cancel."

One routing note: anyone who signed up on Android since 2022 is billed through Google Play, and those memberships are managed in your Google Play account under "Subscriptions." That is where the cancel sticks.

What if you pay through Apple?

If you joined through the YouTube iOS app back when Apple billing was sold, Google's help says "you can cancel your paid membership from your Apple account": open Settings, tap your name, tap "Subscriptions," and cancel there. Managing iPhone subscriptions walks that surface. Whether new sign-ups can still start through Apple billing is undocumented on Google's current pages, which describe only existing Apple-billed members, so treat that route as legacy unless your own App Store offers it.

Worth knowing early: Apple-billed members do not get the pause option below, so cancel and re-subscribe is the Apple-side version of a break.

Should you pause YouTube Premium instead of canceling?

This is the option most people never see, because it sits behind the same button as canceling. The path: youtube.com/paid_memberships, "Manage membership," "Deactivate," then "Pause instead," set the length with the slider, and click "Pause membership."

The verified terms, from Google's pause page (fetched September 5, 2026):

• Length: 1 to 6 months, set with the slider.
• The pause starts after the end of the current billing cycle, so you lose nothing you paid for.
• No charges while paused.
• Benefits stop for you and your family members while paused: ads return, downloads are kept but locked until you resume, background play and Music Premium sit out.
• Resume any time: "Manage membership," then "Resume," then "Resume" again to confirm.

Two groups are excluded outright: "Annual plans cannot be paused," and pause is not available to Apple-billed members.

What happens to your family plan when you cancel?

The family manager's cancel is everyone's cancel. Everyone keeps Premium until the end of the current period; then, per Google's family-plan help, "all family members will lose access to the paid membership, but will still keep their Google Accounts." A family pause works the same way while it lasts: members lose Premium benefits for the duration.

Up to 6 accounts ride on one $26.99/mo Family plan and only the manager pays, which is why the manager's exit ends it for the household.

What retention offers will you see?

In Google's documented flow, the save pitch is the pause screen itself: "Pause instead" appears mid-cancel, before "Yes, cancel," and no discounts show up in the official articles. A pause fits a monthly, Google-billed membership and a break with an end date; a cancel fits annual plans, Apple billing, or an open-ended exit. Either way you come back at then-current prices, so the pause saves clicks, not rate.

Will you get a refund for the rest of the month?

No. The Paid Service Terms say a cancellation "will take effect at the end of that billing period" and that "you will not receive a refund or credit for any remaining days in your current billing period," with a carve-out only for cases covered by YouTube's separate Refund Policy. You get the time you paid for, not money back.

If Google Play bills you, refund requests run through Play's own process, which the cancel article links directly.

What exactly stops when Premium ends?

At the end of the final billing period, the paid benefits switch off: ad-free viewing, offline downloads, background play, and YouTube Music Premium. Downloads stop being playable once the membership ends, as reported; Google's explicit kept-but-locked wording covers only the paused state.

Your YouTube Music saved library and playlists are reported to stay with your account on the free, ad-supported tier; only the Premium features lapse. Google's cancel pages list what stops rather than what survives, so the library point is the reported half of this paragraph. Canceling the membership does not touch the Google account itself.

What if you hit a wall?

The trouble spots here are billing routes: an Apple-billed membership you forgot about, or a Play charge after a cancel you thought stuck. How to cancel any subscription covers escalation, the refund playbook covers charges already taken, and stopping automatic payments at the bank is the last resort.

FAQ

Can I pause YouTube Premium instead of canceling?

Yes, on monthly, Google-billed plans. Go to youtube.com/paid_memberships, click "Manage membership," then "Deactivate," and choose "Pause instead." A slider sets 1 to 6 months, the pause starts when your current billing cycle ends, and nothing is charged while it runs. Two exclusions: annual plans cannot be paused, and Apple-billed members do not get the option. When you resume, you are billed at the current price, not your old one.

Do I lose my YouTube Music playlists?

By all reports, no: your saved library and playlists stay with your account on the free, ad-supported tier, and what lapses is Premium behavior like ad-free listening and background play. Downloads are the concrete loss: they stop being playable once the membership ends, and during a pause Google is explicit they are kept but locked until you resume.

What happens to my family members?

They lose Premium when you do. After the family manager cancels, everyone keeps benefits until the end of the current billing period; then, in Google's words, "all family members will lose access to the paid membership, but will still keep their Google Accounts." A pause has the same reach: family members sit out Premium for the length of the pause. Their Google accounts and free YouTube stay untouched.

Why can't I pause my annual plan?

Because Google rules it out: the pause page states "Annual plans cannot be paused," with no reason given, and Apple-billed members are excluded the same way. Your options are to let the year you paid for run and cancel before the renewal, or to cancel and re-subscribe monthly later. Either way, remember the resume rule: any return happens at the price in effect that day.

This guide is educational, not financial or legal advice. Details change; check the linked sources for anything that matters to your situation.

References

• Google Help, "Cancel YouTube Premium or YouTube Music Premium": https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6308278 (official; web and Android cancel labels, Play routing, refund-process link; fetched live September 5, 2026)
• Google Help, "Pause or resume YouTube Premium or YouTube Music Premium": https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/11950175 (official; 1-6 month slider, exclusions, locked downloads, resume at current price, 30-day notice; fetched live September 5, 2026)
• Google Help, YouTube family plans: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/7507744 (official; family manager cancel wording; fetched live September 5, 2026)
• YouTube Paid Service Terms of Service: https://www.youtube.com/t/terms_paidservice (official; end-of-period cancellation, no partial refunds; fetched live September 5, 2026)
• Quartz on the April 2026 US price increase, quoting Variety (press; the new prices and the June 2026 rollout to existing members; Wayback capture April 14, 2026)