Microsoft 365 is a subscription service that gives you access to Microsoft’s suite of apps like Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. While these apps let you make the most out of the best laptops on the market, web apps are available for many of these, and you may want to cancel your membership if you don’t need the more advanced capabilities of the desktop apps. Here’s how to do it.
How to cancel recurring billing for Microsoft 365
If you don’t want to be charged for Microsoft 365 anymore but you want to keep enjoying it until the end of your current subscription, you can turn off recurring billing. Here’s how:
- Go to your Microsoft account page.
You’ll need to use the same account you used to buy the subscription.
- Under Subscriptions, find Microsoft 365 and click Manage.
- Click Turn off recurring billing.
- To confirm your choice, scroll down and click I don’t want my subscription.
After this, you’ll maintain access to your Microsoft 365 apps and OneDrive storage until the end of your subscription period. Once it expires, your apps will no longer work and OneDrive storage will be limited.
How to completely cancel your Microsoft 365 subscription
- Go to your account page on Microsoft’s website.
You’ll need to use the same account you used to buy the subscription.
- Under Subscriptions, look for Microsoft 365 and click Manage.
- Click Cancel subscription.
- To confirm the cancellation, scroll down and click I don’t want my subscription.
Your Microsoft 365 subscription will be canceled and you’ll lose access to the Microsoft 365 apps installed on your PC. If your files in OneDrive exceed the quote for free accounts (usually 5GB), you’ll also lose the ability to add or edit files in your OneDrive.
What happens when you cancel your Microsoft 365 subscription
Microsoft 365 gives you access to a few things. Most notably, it lets you install the full Windows 11 apps for the Microsoft 365 (also called Office) suite, such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access, and Publisher. The plan also includes premium features for some apps, such as extended call limits in Teams, certain features in OneNote, and some features available on the web apps and on your phone.
Additionally, Microsoft 365 also gives you access to 1TB of storage in OneDrive, compared to the 5GB limit of the free plan. For Microsoft 365 Basic, you get 100GB of storage instead.
Microsoft 365 Family also extends these benefits to up to five people, meaning each person gets 1TB of cloud storage and access to the desktop Microsoft 365 apps. All of these benefits will be lost once your subscription is canceled or expired.
Will I lose my OneDrive files?
Since Microsoft 365 has a much larger storage limit for OneDrive compared to the free plan, you’ll lose the ability to add more files or edit your current files if you’re currently exceeding the OneDrive quota for free accounts.
However, you can download your OneDrive files for some time after canceling your Microsoft 365 subscription. This lets you create backups of your files before they get deleted from Microsoft’s servers. You have about 12 months to do this after your subscription ends, at which point Microsoft might delete your files at any time.