How to delete your Netflix account
By Otabek Mamadaliev · Sources last reviewed · What this means
How do I delete my Netflix account?
Netflix has no delete button. You cancel the membership at netflix.com/cancelplan, and the account closes at the end of your billing period. Signing out or deleting the app does not cancel anything.
Netflix works differently from every other platform here. There is no "delete account" option. You cancel — and Netflix then keeps your viewing activity for 24 months after the account closes, so that returning within two years restores everything. That is deliberate, and it means cancelling is close to the opposite of being erased.
Signing out or deleting the app does not cancel anything. Netflix says so explicitly: cancelling through Netflix is the only way to end a membership. People uninstall the app, assume they are done, and keep getting charged.
Cancel your membership
- Go to netflix.com/cancelplan while signed in.
- Select Finish Cancellation.
Your account closes at the end of the current billing cycle and you are not charged again.
You keep access until the end of the billing period you have already paid for. Billing stops immediately — there is no partial refund, so cancelling on day two of a cycle wastes the rest.
Billed through Apple, Google or your TV provider? Cancel there instead. Netflix cannot stop a subscription it does not bill, and people discover this a month later when the charge appears again.
Getting your data actually erased
Cancelling stops billing; it does not erase your information. Netflix states it keeps your viewing activity for 24 months after the account closes, along with your recommendations, ratings, account details, gameplay history and game saves, precisely so a returning subscriber picks up where they left off.
If two years of retained watch history is the thing you object to, cancelling does not address it. Netflix operates a separate privacy request process for erasure, and that is the route to use.
Do not log back in while waiting. Signing in reactivates the membership, which is exactly what that 24-month window is designed to make easy.
Stop someone else restarting it
Because logging back in revives the membership, anyone in the household who still knows the password can restart your billing. Netflix's own advice is to change your password after cancelling and choose the option to sign out of all devices.
Before you cancel
- Profiles and watch history stay for 24 months, which is why returning users find everything intact.
- Downloads stop working when the membership lapses.
- Sharing with household members? Cancelling ends access for every profile on the account, not just yours.
Time the cancellation, because there is no refund
Netflix bills for a full period and does not refund the remainder, so the day you cancel decides how much you throw away. Cancelling the day after a renewal wastes almost a month; cancelling the day before the next one wastes nothing.
- Find your next billing date under Account before you do anything.
- Cancel a few days before it, not on a whim mid-cycle.
- Keep watching — access continues to the end of the period you have paid for.
- Change the password and sign out of all devices afterwards, so nobody in the household can resurrect the membership by logging in.
Anyone who knows the password can restart your billing. Because signing back in reactivates the membership, a housemate or ex-partner idly opening Netflix on a smart TV can put you back on the hook. This is the single most practical reason to change the password on the way out.
If you want the data gone, cancelling is not it
The 24-month retention is a feature rather than an oversight — it is what makes returning frictionless — and it means a cancelled Netflix account still holds two years of your viewing history, ratings and profile details.
Erasure is a separate privacy request rather than a settings toggle. Two things to get right when you make it:
- Cancel first, then request erasure. An active membership is not a candidate for deletion.
- Do not log back in while it is being processed. Signing in reactivates the account, which undoes the premise of the request.
Netflix keeps what it must for legal and financial reasons regardless — billing records in particular. As everywhere else on this site, erasure means the personal profile, not the transaction history.
Common questions
Is cancelling Netflix the same as deleting my account?
No. Cancelling ends the membership and stops billing, but Netflix keeps your viewing activity for 24 months after the account closes so you can return easily. Use Netflix’s privacy request process if you want your data actually erased.
Will I get a refund if I cancel mid-month?
No. You keep access until the end of the period you have paid for, but there is no partial refund, so cancel close to your renewal date.