Mastering Steam: How to Stop Auto-Renewal

Quick Links

• How to Cancel a Recurring Subscription on Steam
• Can You Get a Refund for a Steam Subscription?

Key Takeaways

• Canceling a recurring subscription on Steam is necessary to prevent future charges through your payment method.
• Uninstalling a game or service on Steam does not automatically cancel any active subscriptions.
• Refunding a Steam subscription is possible within 48 hours of purchase if you haven’t used the subscription.

Setting up a subscription on Steam is easy, but canceling one is trickier. It takes a little bit of work, but you can cancel a recurring subscription on Steam and prevent any further charges.

How to Cancel a Recurring Subscription on Steam

Steam subscriptions are monthly fees you pay when you sign up for an online service, such as a subscription for one of the many MMO games (what are MMO games? ) available these days, or a game library like EA Play. These subscription fees will continue every payment period until you tell Steam to cancel them.

It’s important to note that uninstalling a game or service on Steam does not cancel any active subscriptions with it. You need to explicitly tell Steam to cancel the recurring payments if you’re not using the service anymore.

To get started canceling a subscription on Steam, use the Steam desktop app and click on your display name at the top-right of the window. Then, selectAccount details: [Username] .

If you want to cancel your subscription through the Steam website, the steps are nearly identical to canceling through the client. The only difference is that the username selector looks different on the web version than on the Steam client.

UnderStore & Purchase History , selectManage subscriptions . The number beside the text shows how many services you have on file, including canceled ones.

In the next window, find the subscription you want to cancel and clickEdit .

Then, select theCancel my subscription radio button and clickApply .

This will cancel your subscription to the service or game on Steam.

If you want to re-activate your subscription, repeat the above process and select the radio button for the option you want to subscribe to.

Can You Get a Refund for a Steam Subscription?

It is possible to refund a game on Steam if it’s not to your liking, but did you know that you can do it for subscriptions too? The rules are a lot stricter, but it is possible if you accidentally subscribe to a service you don’t want.

To refund a subscription, you need to apply for one within 48 hours of buying the subscription. You’ll only be eligible for a refund if you didn’t boot up the game or service during those 48 hours. Even if you open it once, Valve will consider that as having used the subscription. and therefore won’t refund you.

To refund a subscription, go through the game refund process as normal. Then, keep an eye out for theDLC you own section as you go through the menus. Find your subscription in this section, click on it, and then apply for a refund just like you would for a game.

While you need to jump through a few hoops to cancel an MMO or EA Play subscription through Steam, it’s required to stop future charges through your chosen payment method. And if you ever change your mind, just repeat the above steps and re-activate it.