How to Cancel YouTube Premium (Formerly YouTube Red)

Now it's YouTube Premium, but cancelling it is still straightforward

Updated on March 26, 2020

YouTube Premium has a lot of benefits many viewers appreciate, but it isn't for everyone. Whether you're taking a break from YouTube and social media, cutting back on paid subscriptions, or simply wanting to terminate your membership before your free trial is up, canceling your YouTube Premium subscription is both possible and relatively straight forward. Here's everything you need to know.

YouTube Premium and YouTube Red are exactly the same things. YouTube Red was the original name of the service. Many early adopters still call it YouTube Red simply out of habit, but it's officially now called YouTube Premium.

What Does YouTube Premium Do?

YouTube Premium offers a number of benefits you lose once you cancel your membership, including:

Ad-free viewing: YouTube Premium subscribers don't see banner advertisements or any pre, mid, or post-roll video ads while using YouTube.
Offline viewing: Those with a YouTube Premium membership can download some videos for viewing at a later time.
YouTube Originals: Unlimited access to TV series, specials, and movies created exclusively for YouTube Premium subscribers. One such example is the Karate Kid sequel series, Cobra Kai.
Background play: Paid subscribers can still listen to YouTube videos and music with the app minimized on their device.
YouTube Music Premium: Access to YouTube Music's library of music completely ad-free and with offline listening options.

The regular YouTube smartphone, tablet, and gaming console apps are used to access YouTube Premium content. There is no YouTube Premium app.

How to Unsubscribe From YouTube Premium on the Web

You can cancel your YouTube Premium membership from any web browser on your smartphone, tablet, or computer as long as you're logged in to your YouTube account. Here's how:

Go to YouTube.com in your preferred internet browser and select your profile avatar in the top-right corner of the screen.
Select Paid memberships.
Select the down arrow next to Manage Membership within the YouTube Premium box, then select Cancel Membership.
You may be asked why you're canceling YouTube Premium. Select your reason and hit Next.
You're asked to confirm your cancellation. Select Yes, Cancel to terminate your YouTube Premium membership and revert back to a free YouTube account.

You can return to this page later if you ever want to renew your membership.

How to Cancel YouTube Premium on Mobile

You can also cancel your YouTube Premium subscription using the official iOS or Android YouTube apps. The steps are very similar to the web version.

Open the YouTube app on your iOS or Android smartphone or tablet.
Tap on your profile picture in the top-right corner.
Select Paid memberships.
Under YouTube Premium, tap on Manage.
You're asked to open a link in a web browser app. Select Open next to the browser you want to use.
Your selected internet browser should open and load the mobile web version of your paid memberships. Under YouTube Premium, select Cancel Membership.
Select Yes, cancel to confirm your cancellation of YouTube Premium.