Cancel Amazon Prime through your account settings
Log into your Amazon account on a computer or phone, go to Your Account, and select Prime Membership. You will see a button labeled End Membership or Cancel Prime depending on your device. Click it, and Amazon will show you the cancellation terms — specifically, whether you are mid-billing cycle and what happens to any remaining balance. Confirm the cancellation, and it takes effect immediately.
If you have a free trial, cancellation happens the same way and takes effect right away. If you are in a paid billing cycle (monthly or annual), your membership ends on the date your current payment period expires. You keep all Prime benefits until that date arrives.
Amazon does not charge a cancellation fee. You will not owe anything beyond what you have already paid for the current billing period. The entire process takes fewer than five minutes.
Key Takeaways
- You cancel Prime through Your Account > Prime Membership > End Membership on Amazon's website or app.
- Cancellation takes effect immediately, but you keep all Prime benefits through the end of your current billing period.
- There is no cancellation fee, and you will not be charged again after your membership ends.
- If you cancel during a free trial, your access stops right away and you are not charged.
- You can restart Prime at any time by going back to the same menu and selecting the membership option you want.
What happens to your Prime benefits after cancellation
Once your current billing period ends, you lose access to free two-day shipping, Prime Video, Prime Music, Prime Reading, and any other benefits included in your membership. Any content you purchased (not rented or streamed) stays in your account. Videos you added to your watchlist remain there, but you cannot watch Prime Video titles anymore.
If you have an active Prime Video subscription separate from Prime membership, canceling Prime does not affect it. You will still be charged for Prime Video if you have a standalone subscription. The two are billed separately, so ending one does not end the other.
Your Amazon shopping account itself does not close. You can still browse, buy, and track orders after Prime ends. You simply lose the shipping speed and entertainment perks that came with the membership.
Canceling Prime if you have a linked family account
If you are the account holder who pays for Prime, canceling it stops the membership for everyone in your household who shares it. Other family members will lose access on the same date you do. If someone else in your household is the Prime account holder, only they can cancel the membership.
If you want to keep Prime but remove yourself from a family account, you cannot do that directly. Instead, the account holder must go to Your Account > Prime Membership > Manage Your Household and remove you from the list. This keeps Prime active for other household members while ending your access.
Family members who are removed from a household account can start their own Prime membership at any time, either as a paid subscription or a free trial if they have never had one before.
Restarting Prime after cancellation
You can restart your Prime membership at any time by going to Your Account > Prime Membership and selecting the membership plan you want (monthly or annual). Amazon will charge you for the new plan immediately. You do not need to wait any specific amount of time after canceling to restart.
If you canceled during a free trial, you can start a new free trial only if you have never had a Prime membership before. Most people are limited to one free trial per account. If you have already used a free trial, you must pay for a monthly or annual plan to restart.
When you restart, your watchlist, saved addresses, and order history all return to your account. Nothing is lost by canceling and restarting later.
Canceling Prime through customer service
If you cannot access your account or the cancellation button is not working, you can contact Amazon customer service by phone, email, or live chat. Go to Your Account > Contact Us to reach them. Have your account email and order number ready. Customer service can cancel your membership and confirm the cancellation in writing if you ask.
Phone wait times vary depending on the time of day and current call volume. Live chat is usually faster and available 24 hours a day. Email responses typically arrive within one to two business days. If you need immediate confirmation, live chat is the fastest option.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will I get a refund if I cancel mid-billing cycle?
No. Amazon does not refund the portion of your billing cycle you have not used. Your membership ends on the date your current payment period expires, and you keep all benefits until then. If you paid for an annual membership and cancel after two months, you do not get money back for the remaining ten months.
Can I pause Prime instead of canceling it?
Amazon does not offer a pause feature for Prime membership. Your only options are to keep it active or cancel it. If you want to stop paying temporarily, you must cancel and restart when you are ready. There is no penalty for restarting, so you can cancel and rejoin whenever you choose.
What if I cancel but Amazon keeps charging me?
Contact Amazon customer service immediately through Your Account > Contact Us. Provide them with the cancellation date and the date of any charges after that. They can investigate and issue a refund for unauthorized charges. Keep records of your cancellation confirmation email as proof.
Does canceling Prime affect my Amazon shopping account?
No. You can still shop on Amazon, save items to your cart, and place orders. You just lose the free two-day shipping benefit and other Prime-specific perks. Your account, order history, and saved addresses all stay the same.
Can I cancel Prime on the Amazon app instead of the website?
Yes. The cancellation process is identical on the app and the website. Go to Your Account > Prime Membership > End Membership on either platform. The button location may look slightly different depending on your device, but the steps are the same.