To cancel a Shopify app subscription, go to Settings > Apps in your Shopify admin, click the three-dot menu next to the app, and select Uninstall. That stops future charges for any app billed through Shopify’s own system, though a charge already generated for the current cycle may still land on your next invoice.1Shopify Help Center. App Charges on Your Shopify Bills Apps billed directly by their developer need a separate cancellation on the developer’s own site, and some uninstalled apps leave code behind in your theme that you’ll want to clean up.
Check Two Things Before You Uninstall
Export any data you want to keep. Some apps store customer segments, analytics history, or custom design settings that disappear the moment the app is removed, and Shopify’s documentation warns you to save what you need before uninstalling.2Shopify Help Center. Uninstalling Apps Open the app first and look for an export or download option.
Then confirm how the app actually bills you. Open Settings > Billing and review your recent invoices. If the app’s charges appear on your Shopify bill, uninstalling handles the cancellation. If they don’t appear there, the developer is charging you through their own payment system and you’ll need to cancel with them directly.1Shopify Help Center. App Charges on Your Shopify Bills Skipping this check is the most common reason merchants keep getting charged after they think they’ve canceled.
Uninstall From Desktop
In your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Apps. Find the app, click the three-dot menu icon next to its name, and select Uninstall. A confirmation prompt appears with an optional dropdown asking your reason for removing it. Click Uninstall again to confirm.2Shopify Help Center. Uninstalling Apps The app loses access to your store and drops off your active list.
Uninstall From the Shopify Mobile App
Open the Shopify app on your phone, tap the menu icon, then tap Settings. Under Store settings, tap Apps. Find the app, tap the three-dot menu, select Uninstall, and confirm.2Shopify Help Center. Uninstalling Apps The steps are the same on iPhone and Android.
What Happens to Billing After You Uninstall
Uninstalling stops future billing cycles for apps charged through Shopify’s platform. If a charge for the current period was already generated before you removed the app, it can still appear on your next Shopify invoice.1Shopify Help Center. App Charges on Your Shopify Bills Each app runs on its own 30-day cycle, separate from your main Shopify subscription cycle, so the timing of your uninstall against that cycle decides whether one last charge comes through.3Shopify Help Center. Billing Cycles and Thresholds
There are no prorated refunds. Shopify does not credit you for unused days remaining in a billing period after you uninstall.4Shopify. About Subscription Billing The flip side is that you can reinstall and keep using the app through the end of that already-paid period if you change your mind.
Canceling Apps Billed Outside Shopify
Some developers charge you through their own website instead of through Shopify’s billing system. For these apps, uninstalling from your Shopify admin removes the app from your store but does not cancel the subscription or stop the charges. You have to log into the developer’s site and cancel there.1Shopify Help Center. App Charges on Your Shopify Bills
If the developer doesn’t have a self-service cancellation page, contact their support team. Save the cancellation confirmation email or chat transcript. Some developers require a specific notice period before cancellation takes effect, so check the terms you agreed to at install. If charges continue after you’ve canceled, that documentation is what makes disputing them straightforward.
Downgrade to a Free Plan Instead
A full uninstall isn’t always the right move. Many apps offer a free tier with limited features, and switching to it keeps the app installed, preserves your configuration, and eliminates the monthly charge. Plan changes are managed inside the app itself or on the developer’s site, not from the Settings > Apps page in your Shopify admin.5Shopify. Managing Apps Open the app, find its billing or plan settings, and pick the free option if one is offered. When you switch plans, Shopify handles proration automatically; a downgrade takes effect either immediately or at the start of your next billing cycle, depending on how the developer set it up.
Free Trials Before They Convert
Trials are where merchants most often get caught. There’s no universal Shopify rule for what happens when a trial ends. Some apps require you to actively approve the paid plan, others start charging automatically. The safe approach is to assume every trial will auto-convert and set a reminder a day or two before it expires.
To see when a trial ends, open the app and look for its billing details, or check Settings > Billing for upcoming charges. If the app isn’t worth paying for, uninstall it before the trial closes. Waiting until after a paid charge generates turns a clean cancellation into a refund request.
Clean Up Leftover Theme Code
Uninstalling an app does not always remove the code it added to your theme. Since early 2024, Shopify revoked apps’ ability to write directly to theme files through the Asset API, so apps that previously injected code can no longer clean up after themselves at uninstall.6Schema App Support. How to Remove Old Schema App Liquid Template Code The leftover snippets sit in your theme doing nothing useful, and can slow down your storefront.
To find and remove this code, go to Online Store > Themes, click the three-dot menu on your active theme, and select Edit code. The most common spot for leftover app code is the theme.liquid file. Look for comment markers naming the app, such as <!-- AppName Start --> and <!-- AppName End -->, and delete everything between and including them. Download a backup of your theme before editing so you can restore it if anything breaks. If you’re not comfortable in the code editor, a one-time audit from a Shopify developer is worth the cost, because orphaned scripts quietly drag on page load times.
How Pausing or Closing Your Store Affects App Billing
Closing Your Store
When you deactivate your Shopify store, all installed apps are automatically uninstalled and any pending charges on your account, including outstanding app usage fees, transaction fees, and shipping label charges, are billed immediately.7Shopify Help Center. Deactivating and Reactivating Your Shopify Store That covers apps billed through Shopify. Apps billed externally still need manual cancellation with the developer, because closing your store doesn’t reach those payment arrangements.8Shopify Help Center. Understanding Billing Implications Before Pausing or Deactivating Your Shopify Store
Pausing Your Store
Shopify’s Pause and Build plan lets you stop selling while keeping your admin accessible. Pausing your store does not pause your apps. All installed apps stay active and developers keep charging standard rates unless you cancel each app individually before switching to the paused plan.9Shopify Help Center. Pausing Your Store Go through your app list and uninstall anything you won’t need during the pause before you switch plans.
Requesting a Refund for an App Charge
Refunds for app charges come from the developer, not from Shopify. If you were charged after canceling a trial, billed for a cycle after uninstalling, or paid for a service that didn’t work as advertised, contact the developer first and request the refund. Developers can issue refunds through Shopify’s Partner Dashboard for charges under $1,000 on invoices less than 12 months old; larger or older charges require the developer to contact Shopify Support to process.10Shopify. Refund App Charges
If the developer won’t respond or refuses a refund you believe is warranted, escalate through Shopify Support. Keep your cancellation date, any confirmation messages, and screenshots of the charges. That paper trail is what separates a dispute resolved in a few days from one that drags on.