Will I lose my playlists, liked songs, and library if I cancel?

No. Liked songs, saved albums, playlists, and listening history stay in your account on the free tier after cancellation. What you lose: offline downloads stop playing immediately at period end (the files are DRM-locked to an active subscription), background play is blocked on the mobile app (YouTube enforced this for non-Premium users on January 30, 2026), and you start hearing ads between songs. The app itself keeps working, just in its free ad-supported form.

Will I get a refund for the rest of the month I already paid for?

No. YouTube's refund policy is explicit: you will not be refunded for the period between when you cancel and when your membership ends. There is also no refund for partially used prepaid annual plans. If you have been double-billed for months by an overlapping YouTube Premium plus YouTube Music standalone, Google's duplicate-subscription article tells you how to stop future charges but offers no self-serve refund. You have to contact Google billing support with the transaction records and ask.

Last verified: May 13, 2026 · post-price-hike pricing

How to cancel YouTube Music

One JustAnswer thread documents a user who paid for both YouTube Premium and YouTube Music Premium from March 2024 to January 2025 before noticing. Ten months. About $270 in duplicate charges. Before you cancel anything, let's make sure you're cancelling the right thing.

Diagnostic first, cancel button second

Music or Premium? Cancel the right one.

Check pay.google.com. Google publishes its own article (answer/9155410) on the duplicate-billing problem: if you have both, cancel the standalone Music sub. YouTube Premium ($15.99/mo) already includes Music.

What's on your billing page	What to cancel
Music Premium only ($11.99/mo)	Standalone sub. Use the steps below.
Both Premium + Music ($27.98/mo)	Cancel Music. Premium covers it. Overlap costs $143.88/yr.

Edge cases: only Premium ($15.99/mo) means no Music sub exists, use our Premium guide if you want out entirely. Premium Lite ($8.99/mo) does not include Music, so Lite + Music ($20.98/mo) is worse than full Premium.

The cancel itself, in 90 seconds

Standalone Music sub, billed by Google. Android app path is identical.

1Open music.youtube.com, sign in, click your profile icon (top right).
2Click Paid memberships, then Manage membership.
3Click Deactivate, then Continue to cancel. YouTube offers a 6-month pause first. Skip it if you want out.
4Pick any cancellation reason (mandatory but doesn't gate the cancel). Click Next.
5Click Yes, cancel. Watch for the confirmation email. No email means it didn't save.

On iPhone? You can't cancel here.

If you subscribed inside the iPhone app, Apple is the biller. The cancel button does not exist at music.youtube.com. Go to iOS Settings → your name → Subscriptions → YouTube Music Premium → Cancel Subscription. This is the most common false-cancel pattern, documented on the Apple Community forum: people cancel on the web, the web shows no active sub, Apple keeps billing them.

Google Play subscribers: cancel in the Play Store app, not on music.youtube.com. YouTube's cancel help page documents all three billing paths.

What you keep, what you lose

Library, liked songs, playlists, and history stay on the free tier. What breaks at period end:

Offline downloads stop playing. DRM-locked to an active sub.
Background play is blocked on mobile. YouTube began enforcing this on January 30, 2026.
Ads return between songs and on stations.

If your statement got bigger this month

Music Premium went from $10.99 to $11.99/mo on June 7, 2026 for existing US subscribers (April 10 for new sign-ups), per TechCrunch. Cancelling won't refund the bump (no proration) but stops the next charge.

Questions people actually ask

I have both YouTube Premium and YouTube Music Premium. Which one should I cancel?

Cancel the standalone Music sub. Premium already includes ad-free music, background play, and offline downloads. Keeping both costs $143.88 a year for nothing. Google has a dedicated article for this scenario at answer/9155410.

I cancelled but YouTube Music keeps charging me. Why?

The cancel happened on the wrong platform. iPhone signups must cancel in iOS Settings, not on music.youtube.com. Google Play signups must cancel in the Play Store app. The confirmation email is the only proof a cancel actually saved.

Will I lose my playlists and library if I cancel?

No. Library, liked songs, playlists, and history all stay in your account on the free tier. You lose offline downloads (DRM-locked), mobile background play (enforced since January 2026), and the ad-free experience.

Will I get a refund for the rest of the month?

No. YouTube's refund policy: no refund for the period between cancellation and period end, none for partially used annual plans. For past duplicate-billing months, contact Google billing support with the transaction records.

Researched and written by the Subcut team. Verified against YouTube's official cancel help page, Google's duplicate-subscription support article, the refund policy page, and TechCrunch's April 2026 price-hike report. Last verified working: May 13, 2026.

Spot a step that's changed? Tell us and we'll re-verify.

If you're sorting out the Google billing stack

Cancel YouTube Premium

The bundle that may already include Music

Cancel Spotify

The competitor people switch to

Annual plan trap

Why partial-year refunds don't exist

Now that Music is sorted, what else is doubled up?

If you were paying twice for Music without noticing, other overlaps may be running too. Subcut shows every recurring charge on your card in about 60 seconds, no bank login, and flags the duplicates.

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