In this guide
Before you start.
- Check whether this is a first purchase or a renewal before you plan around a refund. Malwarebytes states the 60-day money-back guarantee covers new subscriptions of its consumer Windows, Mac and bundle premium products bought directly from it, and that it does not apply to renewals.
- Find the expiration date in My Account. Turning off auto-renewal does not shorten the term you already paid for, so there is no benefit in leaving it late and real risk in doing so.
- Work out who billed you. A subscription bought in the Android app is billed by Google Play and cannot be stopped in My Account, and Malwarebytes states that orders bought through Google Play or the Apple App Store are subject to those stores' refund policies and terms.
- Uninstalling Malwarebytes does not cancel the subscription. The billing lives in your Malwarebytes account or in the store you bought from, and removing the software leaves it renewing.
- Malwarebytes sells several products separately, including Premium Security, Privacy VPN, Browser Guard and Personal Data Remover. Each can be its own subscription line, so check the Payments tab for more than one before you assume you are done.
FOLLOW THE RIGHT BILLING ROUTE
Cancel Malwarebytes, step by step.
Turn off auto-renewal in My Account
This is the route for a subscription bought directly from Malwarebytes. It stops the renewal and leaves the current term running to its expiration date.
- Sign in to My Account on the Malwarebytes website.
- Open the Payments tab.
- Find your active subscription and use the edit control shown beside it, which appears as a pencil icon.
- In the pop-up, select a reason for cancelling auto-renewal.
- Click Turn off to confirm.
- Check for the confirmation email Malwarebytes sends.
Malwarebytes states that cancelled subscriptions remain active and valid until their expiration date, so the protection does not stop the moment you turn renewal off.
Cancel a Google Play subscription
Malwarebytes for Android sells its own subscription through Google Play. That purchase is billed by Google and is not visible or cancellable in My Account.
- Open the Google Play Store app.
- Tap your profile icon in the top right.
- Select Payments & subscriptions, then Subscriptions.
- Select Malwarebytes.
- Tap Cancel subscription and complete the confirmation.
Refunds for a Play charge are decided by Google under its own policy. Google decides directly only within 48 hours of the charge, after which the request passes to the developer.
Raise a support ticket
Malwarebytes documents this as the route when the auto-renewal control is not there, which is a common enough outcome that it is written into its own instructions.
- Open the Malwarebytes support site and submit a ticket.
- Say that you want auto-renewal turned off, and name the subscription and the email address on the account.
- Include the order number from your purchase confirmation, plus the charge date and amount.
- If you are inside 60 days of a first purchase, ask for the refund in the same ticket as a separate request.
- Ask for written confirmation and check the Payments tab afterwards.
Malwarebytes states that if you do not see the edit control when following its steps, you should submit a support ticket so it can assist.
What happens next?
- Malwarebytes states that cancelled subscriptions remain active and valid until their expiration date. Turning off renewal does not end the protection early.
- You should receive a confirmation email. Keep it: it is the evidence if a charge arrives anyway.
- Cancelling and refunding are separate requests. Turning off auto-renewal does nothing about a charge that has already been taken.
- Malwarebytes states its 60-day money-back guarantee does not apply to renewal subscriptions, so a renewal charge has no published window to claim against. The practical consequence is that the renewal is the charge you must prevent rather than recover.
- After the expiration date the paid protection stops. The free Malwarebytes scanner is a separate product and does not run in the background in the same way.
WHEN IT DOES NOT WORK
If you get stuck.
There is no pencil icon or auto-renewal option in my account
Malwarebytes anticipates this in its own instructions: it states that if you do not see the pencil icon, you should submit a support ticket so it can assist. Before that, check whether the subscription was bought through Google Play or the Apple App Store, because a store purchase will never appear in My Account, and check you are signed in with the email address used at purchase.
I was charged for a renewal and want the money back
Malwarebytes states the 60-day money-back guarantee applies to new subscriptions and does not apply to renewals, so there is no published window covering a renewal charge. It is still worth asking support, since a refund is a request a company can grant outside its guarantee, but do not plan around it. If Google Play took the payment, ask Google instead, under its policy rather than Malwarebytes'.
I uninstalled the software but the billing continued
Removing the software and cancelling the subscription are unrelated actions. The subscription sits in your Malwarebytes account or in Google Play and renews regardless of what is installed. Sign in to My Account, or open the Play subscription list, and cancel it there.
I cannot sign in to My Account
The account is tied to the email address used when you bought, which is often not the address you use now. Search your mail for Malwarebytes order confirmations to find it. If you still cannot get in, a support ticket with the order number, charge date and amount is the way through, because support can act on a subscription you cannot reach.
I have two Malwarebytes charges and only cancelled one
Malwarebytes sells its products as separate subscriptions, so Premium Security, Privacy VPN and Personal Data Remover can each bill on their own schedule. Turning off auto-renewal on one does not touch the others. Check every line in the Payments tab, and check for a second charge on your statement rather than assuming one cancellation covered it.
GOOD TO KNOW
Questions, answered.
How do I turn off Malwarebytes auto-renewal?
Sign in to My Account, open the Payments tab, use the edit control beside your active subscription, select a reason and click Turn off. Malwarebytes sends a confirmation email, and the subscription stays valid until its expiration date.
Does Malwarebytes have a money-back guarantee?
Malwarebytes states it offers a 60-day money-back guarantee on new subscriptions of its consumer Windows, Mac and bundle premium products bought directly from it. It states the guarantee does not apply to renewal subscriptions, or to its business, teams and technician products.
Does uninstalling Malwarebytes stop the payments?
No. The subscription is a billing arrangement in your Malwarebytes account or in the store you bought from, and it renews whether or not the software is installed. Cancel it in the account first, then uninstall if you want to.
Can I keep using Malwarebytes after cancelling?
Yes, until the term ends. Malwarebytes states that cancelled subscriptions remain active and valid until their expiration date. After that the paid features stop.
Provider resources
- Malwarebytes: manage auto-renewal for your subscription
- Malwarebytes: cancel subscription auto-renewal in My Account
- Malwarebytes consumer products refund policy
- Malwarebytes: cancel subscription or request refund for Android
- Google Play: cancel subscriptions
Instructions reviewed .
Subex is independent of Malwarebytes. Availability and cancellation terms can vary by plan, billing provider and country.
