How to Cancel YouTube Premium in 2026: Quick Guide

YouTube Premium removes ads, enables background play, and includes YouTube Music. At $13.99/month, that's $167.88 per year. If you're not using it enough, here's how to cancel.

YouTube Premium Plans & Costs

How to Cancel YouTube Premium (Desktop)

1. Go to youtube.com/paid_memberships and sign in
2. Click "Manage membership" next to YouTube Premium
3. Click "Deactivate" (or "Cancel membership")
4. Select your reason for canceling
5. Click "Continue to cancel"
6. Confirm by clicking "Yes, cancel"

How to Cancel YouTube Premium (Android)

1. Open the YouTube app
2. Tap your profile picture → "Paid memberships"
3. Tap "YouTube Premium"
4. Tap "Continue to cancel" and follow the prompts
5. Confirm cancellation

How to Cancel YouTube Premium (iOS)

If you subscribed through Apple:

1. Open Settings → tap your name → "Subscriptions"
2. Find YouTube Premium and tap it
3. Tap "Cancel Subscription"

If you subscribed through YouTube directly:

1. Open the YouTube app
2. Tap your profile picture → "Paid memberships"
3. Follow the cancellation prompts

What You Lose After Canceling

What You Keep

• Your channel — subscribers, videos, playlists
• Watch history — all your viewing data
• Liked videos and playlists — everything stays
• YouTube Music library — playlists remain (but with ads on free tier)

Is Free YouTube Good Enough?

For many people, yes. Here's the honest breakdown:

• Ads are annoying but manageable — Most videos have a 5-15 second skippable ad
• Background play workarounds exist — Some browsers support picture-in-picture mode
• YouTube Music free tier is decent for casual listening with shuffle play

The main reason to keep Premium is if you watch YouTube heavily (2+ hours daily) and the ads genuinely disrupt your experience.

Ad Blocker Alternatives

YouTube has been cracking down on ad blockers, but some options still work:

• Brave Browser — Built-in ad blocking
• uBlock Origin on Firefox — Still effective for many users
• YouTube Vanced alternatives — Third-party apps (use at your own risk)

Note: Using ad blockers violates YouTube's Terms of Service, and Google actively works to detect and block them.

Track Your Decision

Add YouTube Premium to SubTrackr to monitor your spending. If you cancel and miss it, you can always resubscribe — your account and data stay intact.

Start tracking your subscriptions → [blocked]