Subscription Stopper

How to cancel an Apple TV subscription

"Apple TV" means three different things, and cancelling the wrong one is why this feels harder than it should. Apple TV+ is the streaming subscription with the shows on it — and since October 2025 Apple calls it plain Apple TV too, which makes the confusion worse. The Apple TV app is free software that also sells channels from other companies. The Apple TV box is hardware, and nothing about it is a subscription.

What you almost certainly want to stop is Apple TV+, or a channel bought inside the Apple TV app. Both are cancelled in the same place — but where that place is depends on how you signed up.

Cancelling on an iPhone or iPad

This is the route that works for the overwhelming majority of people, including anyone who started a free trial when they bought a device.

  1. Open Settings and tap your name at the top.
  2. Tap Subscriptions.
  3. Tap Apple TV (older lists may still say Apple TV+), then Cancel Subscription.

If you cannot see Apple TV+ listed, you are either signed in with a different Apple Account than the one that started it, or it is bundled inside Apple One — see below. The Apple subscriptions guide covers both.

The free trial that came with a device

Buying an iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple TV box includes a few months of Apple TV+ free, and it converts to a paid subscription automatically unless you stop it. This is far and away the most common reason for an unexpected Apple TV+ charge — the trial was accepted at setup, months earlier, and forgotten.

Cancel it exactly as above. You keep the remaining free months after cancelling, so there is no reason to wait until the last day. Cancelling immediately and watching out the trial is strictly better than trying to remember later.

If Apple TV+ is part of an Apple One bundle

Apple One packages Apple TV+ with Music, iCloud+ and Arcade for a single price. If you are on one, Apple TV+ will not appear as its own line — there is nothing to cancel individually, because you are not paying for it individually.

You have two options: cancel the whole Apple One bundle, or downgrade to a smaller tier.

  1. Open Settings → your name → Subscriptions.
  2. Tap Apple One.
  3. Choose a smaller plan, or tap Cancel Subscription to end the bundle entirely.

Before cancelling Apple One, check what else is inside it. It usually carries your iCloud+ storage, and dropping below your current usage can put your photos and backups at risk — the iCloud guide explains what to clear first.

Cancelling on a Mac, Apple TV box or the web

On a Mac

  1. Open the App Store app and click your name in the bottom-left corner.
  2. Click Account Settings, then Manage next to Subscriptions.
  3. Click Edit beside Apple TV (or Apple TV+), then Cancel Subscription.

On an Apple TV box

  1. Open Settings → Users & Accounts → your account.
  2. Choose Subscriptions.
  3. Select Apple TV (or Apple TV+), then Cancel Subscription.

In a browser

  1. Go to tv.apple.com and sign in.
  2. Click your profile icon, then Settings.
  3. Find Subscriptions and choose Manage.

Cancelling a channel rather than Apple TV+

Paramount+, Starz, AMC+ and similar services can be bought inside the Apple TV app as channels. They look like part of Apple TV+ but they are separate subscriptions with separate charges — and cancelling Apple TV+ does not touch them.

They appear in the same Settings → your name → Subscriptions list under their own names. Cancel each one individually.

If a channel is not listed there, you bought it somewhere else — most often through Amazon Channels, in which case it is cancelled in your Amazon account under Memberships & Subscriptions, not through Apple at all.

What happens after you cancel

Access continues until the end of the period you have already paid for, or until the end of the free trial. Nothing is refunded for the unused portion by default.

Downloads stop playing once the subscription lapses, so anything saved for a flight is worth watching before the end date.

For a charge that has already gone through and should not have, request a refund at reportaproblem.apple.com. Apple decides case by case and is noticeably more receptive within a few days of the charge, particularly for a trial that converted unnoticed.

Common questions

Why am I being charged for Apple TV+ when I never subscribed?

Almost always a free trial that came bundled with a new iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple TV box and converted to a paid subscription automatically. It is accepted during device setup and rarely remembered months later. Check Settings → your name → Subscriptions.

Do I lose the rest of my free trial if I cancel early?

No. You keep access until the trial's original end date, so cancelling on day one of a three-month trial still gives you all three months. There is no benefit to waiting.

I cancelled Apple TV+ but I'm still being charged. Why?

You are likely paying for something else in the Apple TV app — a channel such as Paramount+ or Starz, which bills separately — or Apple TV+ is inside an Apple One bundle, where it has no individual line to cancel. Check the full Subscriptions list for other entries.

Does cancelling Apple TV+ stop my Apple One bundle?

Apple TV+ cannot be cancelled on its own while it is part of Apple One. You either cancel the whole bundle or move to a smaller tier, both under Settings → your name → Subscriptions → Apple One.