How to Turn off Auto-Renewal on Xbox One

Make sure you're not charged beyond your current term

By
Jeremy Laukkonen
Jeremy Laukkonen
Jeremy Laukkonen
Writer
  • Shoreline Community College
Jeremy Laukkonen is automotive and tech writer for numerous major trade publications. When not researching and testing computers, game consoles or smartphones, he stays up-to-date on the myriad complex systems that power battery electric vehicles .
lifewire's editorial guidelines
Updated on March 23, 2021

Xbox One subscription services like Xbox Live Gold and Game Pass can remain in place for months, or even years, if you don't turn off auto-renewal. That's fine if you're actively using these services, but it's very easy to stop playing and just forget that your subscription is set to renew automatically.

Microsoft makes it fairly painless to turn off auto-renewal on Xbox One subscription services, but you have to know where to look.

How to Turn off Xbox One Auto-Renewal

If you want to turn off auto-renewal for your Xbox Live Gold subscription, or other Xbox One subscriptions like Game Pass, you need to use a web browser on a computer. You can use any modern browser, like Chrome, Firefox, or Edge, and it doesn't matter whether you use a Windows, macOS, or Linux computer.

Depending on your specific device, you may not see the option to modify your subscription if you follow these instructions using a web browser on a phone or game console. If you don't have access to a computer, you may need to contact Microsoft customer service via phone.

  1. The first step is to navigate to Microsoft.com. If you aren't already signed in, click the Sign In link in the upper right corner of the page and enter your email and password.

  2. From the main account page, click Microsoft account > Manage.

    Microsoft account Payments & billing link on Microsoft website

  3. The payment options page shows all of your active Microsoft subscriptions, including the payment method that you use for each.

  4. Click the Xbox Live Gold link on the right side of the page to proceed.

    Subscriptions covered: Xbox Live Gold button in lower right corner of Microsoft Payment options web page

  5. From the services & subscriptions page, you can turn off auto-renewal and cancel your Microsoft subscriptions, including services like Xbox Live Gold that are tied to your Xbox One.

  6. Look for the Xbox Live Gold section and click Manage. If you subscribe to a lot of Microsoft services, you may need to scroll to find the Xbox Live Gold section.

    Manage link in Services & subscriptions page for Xbox Live Gold

    You turn off auto-renewal other Xbox One services using this exact same method. For instance, if you subscribe to Xbox Game Pass, you will find it on the same Services & Subscriptions page where you found your Xbox Live Gold subscription.

  7. On your Xbox Live Gold subscription page, you can view your current subscription term, change your payment method, cancel your subscription, or turn off recurring billing.

  8. If you want to cancel auto-renewal on your Xbox Live Gold subscription, click Change and then click Turn off recurring billing.

    Turn off recurring billing link on Xbox Live Gold Payment settings web page

    If you turn off auto-renewal, your subscription will stay active for the remainder of your current subscription term. If you want to cancel immediately, and receive a partial refund if any is available, you must click Cancel instead of Turn off recurring billing.

  9. Click Confirm cancellation in the popup confirmation box to finalize the process, and you will not be re-billed at the end of your subscription term. Your subscription will remain active until that time, and you will retain access to all Xbox Live Gold benefits until the subscription expires.

    Confirm cancellation button on Xbox Live web page

You Can't Turn off Auto-Renewal From the Console

There was a time when the only way you could turn off auto-renewal for Xbox subscription services like Xbox Live Gold was to call and talk to Microsoft customer service. It's a lot easier to turn off auto-renewal now, or even cancel your subscription, but the options are buried several menus deep on the Microsoft website, not on your Xbox One.

The subscription management screen on Xbox One.

Turning off auto-renewal for Xbox One subscriptions like Xbox Live Gold isn't difficult, but you can't actually do it with your console. Unlike the PS4, where you can cancel a PlayStation Plus subscription directly from a menu on the console, you will find no such option on your Xbox One.

You can access your Microsoft subscriptions on an Xbox One by opening the Guide and navigating to Settings > Account > Subscriptions. This opens up a menu where you can view your active subscriptions.

If you select a subscription, like Xbox Live Gold, you have the option to change the billing method, but there is not an option to cancel or turn off auto-renewal.

Was this page helpful?