Cancel a subscription online: buttons and rules in six countries

An example: one website, one app store

Fictional example: Sophie, an Irish translator living in Hamburg, wants to end two subscriptions. She took out a yoga video subscription on the provider's website and pays for a photo-editing app through Google Play on her Android phone.

On the yoga site she scrolls to the footer and finds the «Verträge hier kündigen» button. On the next page she enters her name, email address and customer number, chooses ordinary cancellation and leaves the end date empty. Before clicking «jetzt kündigen» she saves the page as a PDF. A few minutes later an email arrives with the date and time of receipt and the day the contract ends.

The photo app does not appear in that account, because she pays for it through Google Play. She cancels it in the Play subscription settings instead. Sophie files both confirmations in a contracts folder and adds the end dates to her calendar so she can check her bank statement afterwards.

Where do I cancel: with the provider or in the app store?

What matters is where you signed up and how you pay. If you subscribed on the provider's website, cancel there: through a cancellation button, in your customer account or by the method set out in the contract and terms. If you subscribed inside an app and pay through Apple or Google Play, manage the subscription in the store's settings.

Deleting an app does not end a subscription. Google's Play help page says so plainly: uninstalling the app does not cancel your subscription. After cancelling through Google Play you can keep using the subscription until the end of the period you have already paid for.

Tip: If there is no cancel button for an Apple subscription, or you see an expiry message in red, the subscription has already been cancelled. If you cannot find a Google Play subscription, check whether it sits in another Google account.

How does Germany's cancellation button work?

Since 1 July 2022, businesses that let consumers take out a paid, ongoing contract through a website must also offer online cancellation (section 312k of the German Civil Code, BGB). This also applies to contracts concluded before that date. Financial services are excluded, as are contracts for which the law requires a stricter form of notice than text form.

1. A clearly legible button labelled «Verträge hier kündigen» (cancel contracts here) or with equally clear wording. It must be permanently available and easy to reach.
2. The button leads straight to a confirmation page asking for: the type of cancellation (with the reason, for extraordinary cancellation), details that identify you, which contract you mean, the end date you want and an email address for the confirmation.
3. A final button labelled «jetzt kündigen» (cancel now) or equivalent sends the notice.
4. The business must immediately confirm receipt electronically in text form, stating the content of the notice, the date and time of receipt and the date the contract ends.

If you give no end date, the cancellation is presumed to take effect at the earliest possible time. You must be able to save your notice, with date and time, on a durable medium such as a PDF.

On 16 July 2026 Germany's Federal Court of Justice ruled (I ZR 200/25) that the confirmation page may contain only the information required by law and the confirmation button. A note suggesting you pause the contract instead is not allowed there.

Tip: If the button is missing or does not work as required, German law lets you cancel at any time without a notice period. Use another route you can prove.

How does France's three-click cancellation work?

In France, the purchasing power law of 16 August 2022 introduced cancellation by electronic means, with technical details set by decrees of 16 March and 31 May 2023. Service-Public, the official French portal, lists providers such as telephone and internet operators, electricity and gas suppliers, transport companies, press and online media, dating sites, gyms and IT service providers, as well as insurance contracts concluded online.

1. Click the «Résilier votre contrat» link.
2. Enter your name, a contact method for confirming receipt, the contract reference, the reason and, where relevant, the date of the event behind the cancellation.
3. Click «Confirmer votre résiliation».

For contracts that renew tacitly, the provider must tell you in writing about your right not to renew, no earlier than three months and no later than one month before the deadline. If it does not, you can cancel free of charge at once by registered letter and get a refund for the period after cancellation within 30 days.

What notice periods apply elsewhere?

Across the EU, a contract term can be unfair if the deadline for giving notice is unreasonably early. Your Europe gives the example of a mobile contract with six months' notice that renewed for a year if not cancelled. Unfair terms are not binding on consumers, while the rest of the contract stays valid.

The European Consumer Centres Network helps with disputes involving a trader in another EU country, Iceland or Norway. Contact the centre in the country where you live.

How should I keep proof of the cancellation?

Keep three things together: the completed cancellation page or your cancellation message, the provider's confirmation and the first bank statement after the end date. A single contracts folder with files named by provider and date is enough. Keep records of online orders shows a simple way to file such evidence.

Check the end date in the confirmation first. If it does not match your request or the notice periods above, contact the provider straight away and attach your saved page. If you have several subscriptions, a list without passwords keeps track of them: Keep an overview of digital subscriptions.

Sample wording if there is no button

«I hereby cancel my contract with customer number [number], registered under the email address [address], with effect from the earliest possible date. Please confirm receipt of this cancellation and the date on which the contract ends by email.»

Tip: Only just signed up? Check first whether you can still withdraw. Withdrawal follows its own rules: Withdrawal button in online shops.

What if no confirmation arrives or payments continue?

Check your spam folder first. Under German law the provider must confirm receipt immediately, and the notice is presumed to have arrived as soon as you sent it. Under French law, you can contact the provider in writing and, if that fails, turn to a consumer mediator.

If money is still taken after the end date, write to the provider and attach copies of your proof. In Switzerland, the Stiftung für Konsumentenschutz offers advice; national consumer organisations do the same in EU countries. This guide does not replace legal advice on an individual case; for disputes about deadlines or larger amounts, personal advice is worthwhile.