How to Cancel Subscriptions on Mac
Do you want to manage or cancel the subscriptions for various services like Apple Music, Spotify, etc.? It’s pretty easy to do so on a Mac once you learn how. You can also cancel services you subscribed to from other Apple devices like the iPhone or iPad too.
When you choose to subscribe to a service on an iOS or macOS device, it’s set to automatically renew on a monthly or yearly basis by default. And if you don’t cancel the subscription, your credit card will be charged by Apple. This is also the case if you subscribe to a service that offers a free trial period. Several users just end up subscribing because it’s free and forget about it.
If you’re one of those people who got charged for a subscription that you’re no longer interested in spending money on, or you just want to avoid this situation completely, read on to learn how to cancel subscriptions on your Mac.
How to Cancel Subscription Services from MacOS
Apple’s payment gateway is the reason why you don’t find the option to unsubscribe within the respective apps. However, this allows you to manage all of your subscriptions in one place, in additionto making the payments more secure.
- Head over to “System Preferences” on your Mac from the Dock or Apple menu.
- This will open a new window on your Mac. Click on “Apple ID” located at the top.
- Next, go to “Media & Purchases” in the left pane. Here, click on the “Manage” option under subscriptions, as shown below.
- This will open the App Store on your Mac and it will show all your active and expired subscriptions including the renewal dates. Click on “Edit” for any subscription that’s set to renew automatically.
- Now, click on “Cancel Subscription” to stop paying for the service. You’ll also be able to change the subscription tier for the service, if available.
- When you’re prompted to confirm the cancellation, click on “Confirm”.
Now you’ve learned how to cancel subscriptions on your Mac. Pretty straightforward, right?
Keep in mind that once you cancel your subscription to a service, you will still be able to access all the benefits until the usual renewal or expiry date. The exact date will be shown when you’re about to confirm the cancellation. From now on, you don’t have to worry about your credit card getting automatically charged for unwanted subscriptions.
If at any point you feel like resubscribing, you could simply head over to the same menu and choose any one of the subscription tiers to reactivate the service. Depending on the service, you can switch to a monthly, 6-month, or annual subscription plan as well.
Managing subscriptions might be a necessity for services that offer a free trial. Apple’s own Apple Music, Apple TV+ streaming service, Apple Arcade game subscription service, and the Apple News+ service, all come with free trials at varying lengths. Therefore, you might want to unsubscribe from them before the next billing date if you’re not interested in continuing the particular subscription, or you don’t want to get charged for something you aren’t interested in using.
Although managing all your subscriptions in one place is great for convenience, this could also confuse some relatively new iOS and macOS users when they don’t find the unsubscribe option within the respective apps. Fortunately, once you learn how this works it’s all pretty simple.
Were you able to cancel the subscriptions to services you no longer need or want to use? Did you cancel them after you’re finished with a free trial? Do you find managing your subscriptions from Apple ID settings a lot more convenient than doing it within the respective apps? Do let us know your valuable thoughts and opinions in the comments section down below.
