How do I cancel a subscription billed by Microsoft?

Sign in at account.microsoft.com/services with the Microsoft account that bought the subscription: what Microsoft bills you for is listed there under Services & subscriptions. Which account matters, because Microsoft says it is important to use the one you purchased with. For a charge you do not recognise, Microsoft points you at the Manage your payments page of your Microsoft account dashboard. Xbox Support names the other common case: the payment option may belong to another Microsoft account holder, such as another member of your Xbox family group, so sign in to review and manage each account's subscriptions individually.

That means the subscription is already set to expire on the date shown and you won't be automatically charged after this date. Microsoft says there is nothing further to do at this time and that you can continue to use the product until the subscription expires.

Usually yes. Microsoft says that if you turn off recurring billing you'll still have access to your subscription and all its benefits until it expires. Xbox Support says the same for an Xbox subscription: turning off recurring billing will stop future charges for a subscription and grant you its benefits until its expiration date. Where no refund is issued, Microsoft's refund policy notes that access to Microsoft 365 typically continues until the end of the current billing period.

Sometimes. Microsoft's subscription refund policy says you may receive a refund within 30 days of your initial purchase or before your first recurring billing date, whichever is sooner, by cancelling your subscription, and that you are also entitled to a refund of your most recent recurring billing charge if you cancel within 30 days after payment, a right limited to one time per Microsoft account, per subscription product. Xbox subscriptions have their own page, which states the same two windows for Xbox subscription products. Either way, not all cancellations result in a refund: Microsoft says eligibility is determined automatically during the cancellation process.

Microsoft gives two reasons for that. Either you cancelled too close to the billing date, because cancellations must be more than 2 days before the billing date, or the wrong Microsoft account was used. Go to Services & subscriptions to check the subscription end date, and investigate a charge you do not recognise on the Manage your payments page of your Microsoft account dashboard.

Then someone else does the billing. Microsoft says that if you bought a Microsoft 365 subscription from a third-party retailer such as Amazon, Best Buy or Harvey Norman, you contact them directly to manage your subscription and billing, and that a Microsoft subscription bought from Google Play or the Apple App Store is cancelled or refunded through their customer support. For a Microsoft 365 work or school account, Microsoft sends you to your organisation's IT admin. One more blocker is worth checking before you conclude anything: if there is money owing, you cannot cancel until any overdue amount is paid.