How to Cancel Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365 has two ways to stop paying: turning off recurring billing or canceling immediately. They do different things. Turning off recurring billing lets you keep using the subscription until it expires. Canceling ends it early and may qualify for a partial refund.
Cancel online
Go to account.microsoft.com, open Services and subscriptions, find Microsoft 365, and select Manage. You have two options. Turn off recurring billing stops the next charge and lets access run until the paid period ends. Cancel subscription ends access early and may offer a prorated refund. Choose the one that matches what you want. If you are on a Microsoft 365 Family plan and you are not the organizer, you cannot cancel. Only the person who purchased the plan controls billing.
Read this before you cancel
Microsoft 365 is almost always billed by Microsoft directly through your Microsoft account. If you purchased through the Microsoft Store app on Windows, through Apple on an iPhone or iPad, or through a retail activation code, the billing path may differ. Check your Microsoft account page first. If the subscription does not appear there, check Apple subscription settings or your original purchase receipt. Uninstalling Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or other Office apps from your devices does not cancel the subscription. The apps and the billing are managed separately.
After you cancel
If you turned off recurring billing, everything works normally until the paid period ends. If you canceled immediately, app access stops and a prorated refund may apply. After access ends, Office apps switch to read-only mode. You can still open and view files but cannot edit or create new ones. OneDrive storage drops to the free 5 GB limit. If you have more than 5 GB stored, you will not lose files immediately, but you cannot add new ones until you reduce storage or resubscribe. Outlook email through a custom domain stops working.
What to save as proof
If billing continues, these make the dispute faster.
- 1Screenshot of the Services and subscriptions page showing whether recurring billing is off or the subscription was canceled
- 2The exact date your paid access ends, shown on the subscription management page
- 3Confirmation email from Microsoft with the billing change details
- 4If on a Family plan, screenshot confirming which Microsoft account is the plan organizer
What goes wrong
- Turned off recurring billing and assumed the subscription was canceled immediately. Access continues until the end of the paid period, and the setting can be turned back on.
- On a Family plan but not the organizer. Members cannot cancel or change billing. Only the account that purchased the plan has access to billing controls.
- Uninstalled Office apps and assumed the subscription stopped. The subscription lives in the Microsoft account, not on the device.
- Canceled on the wrong Microsoft account. Microsoft personal, work, and school accounts are separate logins even if they share the same email domain. Check which account email appears on the subscription page at account.microsoft.com.
- Did not realize OneDrive storage would drop to 5 GB after canceling. Files are not deleted, but uploads stop until storage is reduced or the subscription is restored.
Related: Pausing didn't cancel it