How to Cancel Subscriptions on Amazon in 6 Easy Steps

Have you ever signed up for a tempting Amazon Prime free trial or Audible promotion only to forget about it, wake up months later, and realize your credit card has been quietly charged every month?

You‘re not alone. In fact, a 2019 survey found that nearly 65% of Amazon users continue paying for unused subscriptions primarily due to forgetfulness and the set-it-and-forget convenience of auto-renewals.

But recapturing those unused membership fees to allocate towards other priorities can feel liberating. This guide will show you how to easily identify and cancel any Amazon subscription through simple account settings changes on desktop or mobile.

We‘ll cover:

• The Rise of Subscription Services
• Overview of Amazon Subscription Options
• Key Reasons to Cancel Memberships
• Step-by-Step Guide to Canceling via Website
• Walkthrough for Canceling via Mobile App
• Tips for Managing Specific Subscription Types
• Pausing vs. Canceling Considerations
• Answers to Common Amazon Cancellation Questions

So if you‘re looking to cut back on monthly charges from unused Amazon subscriptions, let‘s get started!

The Rise of Subscription Services

In recent years, subscription-based consumption has exploded across industries ranging from retail, entertainment, software, food and more. The recurring revenue model provides companies with predictable income streams while granting users access convenience.

Amazon rapidly evolved into a pioneer of bundling products, services and content into paid memberships. As early as 2005 they offered free two-day shipping for $79 per year through their brand new Amazon Prime program which now boasts over 200 million members globally.

However, with the ease of stacking multiple auto-renewing subscriptions across streaming, delivery, reading and listening platforms, keeping track of charges on your monthly credit card statement can quickly become messy.

According to 2022 financial expense trends, the average American holds 4 recurring subscriptions billing around $220 per month in total fees. Yet 47% reported wanting to cut back on subscription costs this year.

So if you‘re looking to downsize your monthly budget by trimming unused Amazon subscriptions, let‘s explore how you can easily identify and cancel memberships through your account.

Overview of Amazon Subscription Options

Before diving into the cancellation process, let‘s briefly summarize the range of subscriptions Amazon currently offers in case you need a refresher:

Now let‘s explore the motivations that often lead to customers canceling each of these subscriptions.

Key Reasons to Cancel Amazon Memberships

There‘s no harm in trying out Amazon digital services and memberships to experience the convenience value firsthand. But reasons you may want to eventually cancel subscriptions fall into 5 main categories:

1. You‘re not using it enough – If you aren‘t streaming enough music hours each month to justify the Amazon Music charge, likely time to say goodbye. Calculate your utilization across subscriptions to determine which ones to keep or cut.

2. You want to save money – Trimming unused Amazon subscriptions can quickly free up extra dollars each month in your budget. For example, axing a $119 annual Prime membership saves you $10 every month.

3. You signed up just for the free trial – Amazon heavily promotes tempting free trials for new members on services like Prime Video and Audible. Be sure to set cancellation reminders if you just want to enjoy the initial 30-60 day trial period.

4. You have too many subscriptions – Subscription fees across streaming services, monthly box deliveries, memberships and more add up fast. Every few months, audit what you really use versus what‘s redundant.

5. You use Amazon less overall – If you‘ve cut back on online shopping and shifted towards more local stores, maintaining an expensive Amazon Prime membership with unused benefits doesn‘t make sense.

Now that you know why cancelling subscriptions can feel like a smart money move, let‘s get into the step-by-step process for Amazon. We‘ll cover how to cancel memberships through desktop and mobile platforms.

Step-by-Step Guide: Canceling Amazon Subscriptions via Website

If you prefer handling account management like subscription cancellations on a larger screen, here‘s how to cancel Amazon memberships via desktop:

Step 1: Log Into Your Amazon Account

Visit Amazon.com and hover over the Account & Lists dropdown on the top right corner. Click Sign-In.

Enter your email address and password when prompted then click Sign-In to access your account.

Step 2: Navigate to "Memberships & Subscriptions"

Once signed in, hover back over Account & Lists again and select Memberships & Subscriptions from the menu.

You‘ll land on a page listing all active Amazon subscriptions like Prime, Audible, Kindle Unlimited, kids accounts and more.

Step 3: Identify the Subscription You Want to Cancel

Scroll through and browse the various subscriptions tied to your account. Locate whichever specific membership or service you want to cancel like Audible or Amazon Music.

Tip: Use the left-side filters or search bar to filter just Prime memberships, digital services, payment methods or other criteria to help surface the subscription you need.

Once you locate the subscription, click on Settings beside its entry.

Step 4: Cancel the Membership

From the Settings overview for your chosen subscription, click the big yellow Cancel Membership button.

Follow any additional cancellation confirmation screens or prompts afterward, which typically involves just 1-2 extra clicks to process the actual cancellation.

And just like that, your membership will be successfully cancelled, removed from the Memberships portal and scheduled to expire once the next payment cycle hits. Nice work!

Step 5: Cancel Any Pending Orders (Optional)

Bear in mind that canceling the overarching subscription itself does not automatically halt any pending product orders, audiobook credits or other transactions that have already initiated under that membership but haven‘t shipped yet.

To fully cancel pending orders or individual digital assets tied to a cancelled subscription:

1. Go to Account & Orders > Orders
2. Locate the pending order related to the cancelled subscription
3. Click Cancel Order on the right side

Completing this quick additional step ensures no outstanding orders, credits or shipments tied to the membership can still go through moving forward.

And that covers everything you need to smoothly cancel Amazon subscriptions via the desktop site! Most people do find managing memberships simple and intuitive through the browser experience.

Next, we‘ll explore how to cancel Amazon subscriptions directly from your mobile device which follows nearly identical steps.

Walkthrough: Canceling via Mobile App

If you want to manage your Amazon subscriptions on-the-go from your smartphone or tablet, you can easily cancel memberships through the Amazon mobile app as well:

Step 1: Open the Amazon App & Sign In

On your mobile device, tap to launch the Amazon app icon then enter your email and password to login if you aren‘t already signed in.

The app should automatically bring you to the central homepage showing popular products, recommendations and more if you‘re logged in.

Step 2: Navigate to Your Account Settings

Tap the person profile icon on the bottom toolbar to access account details and settings.

This will open up your broader account hub. Next tap on the Your Account link right underneath your name and email to access detailed account options.

Step 3: Select Memberships & Subscriptions

Scroll down the account settings page and tap on the Memberships & Subscriptions link listed under Ordering and Shopping Preferences.

This section lists any active subscription tied to your Amazon account including Prime, Audible, print magazine orders and more.

Step 4: Tap to Cancel the Membership

To cancel a subscription, tap on the Manage Subscription button next to the membership name you want to cancel such as an Audible or Prime Video membership.

On the configuration page for that specific membership, tap the big yellow Cancel button to confirm cancellation. Follow any subsequent confirmation screens afterward.

And you‘re all set! With just those few taps, you successfully cancelled any subscription through the Amazon mobile app.

Step 5: Cancel Extra Pending Orders (Optional)

As explained in the desktop section, cancelling just the membership won‘t halt pending product shipments, digital credits or assets tied to that subscription.

To fully cancel pending transactions or orders related to cancelled subscriptions:

1. Tap Account icon > Orders
2. Find pending order tied to your cancelled subscription
3. Tap Cancel Order

And that extra step additionally ensures no outstanding subscription-related orders proceed in case you also want to halt pending transactions.

As you can see, Amazon makes it equally quick and simple to cancel subscriptions through both desktop and mobile platforms following nearly identical flows focused on membership management!

Now let‘s get into specialized cases for handling a couple unique subscription types that require extra clicks.

Tips for Managing Specific Subscription Types

The majority of Amazon subscriptions can be cancelled directly from the Memberships & Subscriptions hub shown in the steps above.

However, a couple specific membership types require clicking through to specialized account settings sections first before finding the cancellation options.

Here‘s how to handle these unique cases if you‘re looking to cancel:

Kindle Unlimited

To cancel Kindle Unlimited on both desktop and mobile, you need to access Kindle Unlimited account settings separately rather than attempting to cancel through the main Memberships tab.

On desktop, click on Kindle Unlimited under media subscriptions toward the bottom of the memberships page.

On mobile, scroll down and tap the Kindle Unlimited icon below your broader account settings.

From there, you can cancel directly on the Kindle Unlimited account details screen.

Audible

Similar to Kindle Unlimited, you need to cancel Audible subscriptions within the Audible account dashboard itself:

On desktop, click on the Audible subscription card on the memberships page to get into Audible account details.

On mobile, choose the Audible icon from account settings.

You can then cancel Audible directly in those account dashboards.

Amazon Music

Amazon Music memberships (for Unlimited and Prime Music) need to be downgraded or cancelled within Amazon Music Settings instead of the main Memberships tab.

On desktop, scroll down on memberships page and click Amazon Music then pick membership plan.

On mobile, go to Amazon Music icon in account settings bottom then Change or Cancel Plan.

And that covers unique exceptions! For all other subscriptions, just stick with the standard membership cancellation process.

Now that you know how to cancel Amazon subscriptions across platforms and various membership types, let‘s discuss considerations around pausing versus completely removing memberships.

Pausing vs. Canceling Memberships: Key Considerations

When you decide it‘s time to cut back on Amazon subscriptions, you actually have a couple options beyond completely canceling:

1. Pause membership – Temporarily deactivate subscription while retaining some benefits
2. Outright cancel – Fully terminate membership and stop recurring charges

Here‘s an overview of what happens when you pause versus cancel major Amazon subscriptions:

As you can see, the implications around pausing versus outright canceling Amazon subscriptions can vary significantly depending on the membership type.

Generally, pausing makes the most sense if you foresee resuming the benefits in the short-term once your temporary reason for the hold (like vacation, work project or seasonality) concludes. Outright canceling without an easy pathway to reinstate tends to signal longer-term shifts in usage intent.

Now that we‘ve covered the full step-by-step process for identifying and canceling Amazon subscriptions on both desktop and mobile platforms, let‘s wrap up with some answers to frequent questions around managing memberships.

Answers to Common Amazon Cancellation Questions

Here are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions around canceling Amazon Prime memberships and managing other subscription types:

Do free trials automatically renew into paid subscriptions?
Yes, Amazon will automatically begin charging your default payment method on file once free trials convert into paid memberships unless you proactively cancel beforehand. So if signing up just to get the 30 day Amazon Prime or 60 day Audible trial period, make sure to set cancellation reminders.

If I cancel Amazon Prime, can I still shop during the remainder of the billing period?
Yes, you retain access to all Prime benefits like free shipping for the rest of the current billing cycle when you cancel Prime. The membership expires at the end of that period. So no need to rush pending purchases.

Can I get a refund for an unused, already paid-for Amazon subscription?
Amazon maintains strict policies around subscription refunds and generally only grants them in cases of unauthorized charges or failed recurring billing transactions. Occasionally, they may offer courtesy refunds for fully unused, recently paid memberships on a case-by-case basis if you contact customer support.

What happens if I cancel an Amazon subscription by accident – can I undo it?
If you cancel a paid subscription in error and catch it right away, you may be able to contact Amazon support to request undoing the cancellation so your membership and settings are fully restored without creating a new account. But you typically need to notice and address the mistake within 5-7 days.

Do I lose my subscribed Kindle books if I cancel Kindle Unlimited?
Yes, any Kindle ebooks you accessed via the monthly Kindle Unlimited subscription become inaccessible when you cancel because the content licensing terms expire. You would need to purchase outright copies of books you want to keep reading.

And there you have it! As you can see, canceling unwanted Amazon subscriptions is relatively quick and painless once you know the ins and outs.

We walked step-by-step through how to cancel memberships via desktop and the mobile app along with tips for addressing unique subscription types like Audible and recommendations for pausing versus fully cutting off different memberships.

Hopefully this guide gave you the confidence and details needed to easily eliminate unused Amazon subscriptions cluttering up your monthly budget! Here‘s to no more surprise forgotten charges.