November 3, 2026
How to cancel Spotify Premium (2026): and what happens to your playlists
The short answer first: cancelling Premium does not delete your account or your music. Your account drops to Spotify Free, and Spotify's own support page promises you keep your playlists and saved music. Here is exactly how to do it.
How to cancel Spotify Premium, step by step
You cancel on your account page in a browser. There is no cancel option inside the Spotify app on iPhone or Android, so use a browser on your phone or computer:
- Go to your account page at spotify.com/account and log in.
- Open Manage your plan.
- Select Cancel subscription.
- Continue through the screens until you reach the confirmation message.
That is the whole process. Your Premium stays active until your next billing date, and then your account switches to free on its own.
What happens to your playlists
Nothing bad. Spotify states it plainly on its cancel page: you keep your playlists and saved music when your account is free, and you can still log in and play, with ads. Your liked songs, saved albums, and followed artists stay put too. There is no need to export or back up your library before cancelling Premium.
The one real casualty is downloads. Downloading music for offline listening is a Premium feature, so anything you downloaded is removed when your account switches to free. The songs are still in your playlists; you just stream them instead. And note the difference between cancelling and closing: cancelling Premium keeps everything. Only closing your Spotify account entirely would take your playlists with it.
Timing to know
- Paid plan: Premium runs until your next billing date, then the account switches to free. Cancelling early does not cost you any days you already paid for.
- Free trial: if you cancel during a zero priced free trial, your account switches to the free service immediately, and Spotify says zero priced free trials cannot be reactivated. Cancel a trial only when you are sure.
Cancelling a Duo or Family plan
If you are the plan manager, follow the same steps above to cancel the plan. Warn everyone on it first: all plan members lose their Premium benefits starting from the next payment date, and any managed accounts on a Family plan move to the free, ad supported plan.
If you are a plan member, the same steps only remove your own account from the plan. They do not cancel it. To end the plan itself, the plan manager has to cancel, or update the payment method.
Billed through a partner? Cancel with them
If your account page shows no option to change your plan, Spotify says that means your plan is associated with a partner company, such as your mobile or internet provider. This also covers older Premium subscriptions billed through Apple or Google Play. To cancel:
- Go to Manage your plan on your account page.
- Check the Payment section, which names the partner and links to them.
- Cancel with that company, in their app, your Apple ID subscriptions, or your Google Play subscriptions, depending on who bills you.
Before you cancel: the cheaper option
If the problem is price rather than the service itself, the same Manage your plan page lets you switch plans instead of leaving, for example moving to Duo or Family and splitting the cost with someone else. Spotify's support site has a change of plans guide linked from the cancel page for exactly this. Switching plans does not affect your playlists or saved music either.
How to confirm the cancellation worked
Go back to your account page. Before the switch, it shows your Premium plan with the date it ends. After your billing date passes, the plan reads Spotify Free. If your account page says you are already on free and you are still being charged, Spotify's likely explanation is a second account: log out and back in with different details to find the one that has Premium on it.
By Ron Satha
Last checked November 3, 2026