How to Cancel Your Xbox Live Subscription

Xbox Live Gold comes with a lot of benefits, like free games each month, but it doesn't make sense to stay subscribed if you aren't actively using the service. Whether you just want to take a break, or you're done with the service forever, you have to follow some very specific steps to cancel Xbox Live, or Microsoft will continue to charge you each time the subscription comes up for renewal.

How to Cancel Xbox Live

The easiest way to cancel Xbox Live, without talking to a customer service agent, is to use the Xbox website. You can use this site to cancel your subscription immediately, turn off your recurring subscription, or even get a refund for any Xbox Live subscription time you haven't yet used.

Navigate to xbox.com and log into the Microsoft account associated with your Xbox Live account.
Select your profile icon in the upper right corner of the page.

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Select Subscriptions.
Locate the Xbox Live Gold section on the Services & subscriptions page.

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If you subscribe to a lot of Microsoft services, you may need to scroll down.
In the Xbox Live Gold section, Select Manage.
Locate the Payment settings section.

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Select Cancel.
Choose whether or not to end your subscription immediately, then select Next.

If you choose to end immediately, you may be entitled to a partial refund. You will also lose access to all of the Xbox Live Gold benefits upon accepting.
Select Confirm cancellation.

How to Turn Off Xbox Live Auto-Renewal

If you're currently using Xbox Live, but you're afraid you'll eventually stop using it and forget to cancel, you can turn off automatic renewals right now. This will allow you to continue using Xbox Live, and you'll maintain access to the free games that come with Xbox Live Gold, but you won't accidentally spend a bunch of money on a subscription you're no longer using later on.

Turning off Xbox Live auto-renewal works a lot like canceling the service, and when you cancel you actually have the option to simply cancel future payments. When you turn off recurring billing, you retain access to all of the Xbox Live Gold features until the end of your current subscription period. At that time, you have the option to renew manually if you're still using the service.

Here's how to turn off Xbox Live auto-renewal:

Navigate to xbox.com and log into the Microsoft account associated with your Xbox Live account.
Select your profile icon in the upper right corner of the page.
Select Subscriptions.
Locate the Payment settings section.
Select Change.
Select Turn off recurring billing.

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If you prefer, you can select Switch plan instead to change to either a monthly or a yearly subscription.
Select Confirm cancellation.

What Happens When You Cancel an Xbox Live Subscription?

When you cancel your Xbox Live subscription, one of two things can happen:

If you cancel your Xbox Live recurring payment or turn off automatic renewal, nothing will change immediately. You'll retain access to all Xbox Live features until your remaining subscription time runs out.
If you cancel your subscription and receive a partial refund, you'll immediately lose access to all Xbox Live Gold features, including online play, voice chat, and Games With Gold.

Canceling your Xbox Live subscription doesn't cancel your Xbox Live account. You'll keep your Gamertag, your saved game files, your achievements, and any digital games and downloadable content (DLC) you purchased through the service.

Xbox Live Gold dashboard — Jeremy Laukkonen

Xbox Live subscribers with Xbox 360 consoles who obtained free games through the Games With Gold program were allowed to keep and play those games even without an active Xbox Live subscription.

Xbox One games provided through the Games With Gold program are only available so long as you maintain an active Xbox Live subscription. When you cancel your subscription, you lose access to Games With Gold. You'll regain access to these games if you subscribe again in the future, but they will be unavailable as long as your Xbox Live Gold account remains canceled.