How to Cancel Microsoft 365 Subscription Without Losing Data?

Cancelling a Microsoft 365 subscription may feel devastating, especially if you’re not concerned about your emails and other data saved over the years. Many professionals want to cancel their Microsoft 365 subscription and services but are not sure about what happens to their files afterwards. And honestly, it can be a little complex at first, but you don’t need to worry!

In this article, we’ll explain everything in simple terms, how to cancel Office 365 subscriptions, what to expect, and how to make sure that your loss is still protected. Nothing complicated, just take your time. Stay with us and go through each section. By the end, you’ll know exactly how to cancel Microsoft 365 subscriptions without losing data that matters to you!

Reasons to Cancel Microsoft 365 Subscription

There could be many reasons from the vast users' perspectives. Some of them are as follows:

• The subscription cost feels expensive, especially for users who need basic features.
• Most applications go unused, apart from Outlook or Word.
• Availability of free alternatives, like Google Docs, Gmail, free cloud storage, etc.
• Using a shared family account instead of a personal account.
• Switching to a new device, ecosystem, or productivity suite.

Whatever the reasons be, the process to end Office 365 subscription should be safe and free from losses.

What Happens After You Cancel Microsoft 365 Subscription?

Many users think that cancelling Microsoft 365 subscription will instantly erase their files, emails, or other data, but this is not true. Microsoft actually keeps data safe for months after cancellation and allows you to download your data effectively. Nothing deletes instantly; you can cancel the Microsoft subscription with all data protected.

Here is a brief overview of your data after cancelling Office 365 subscription (both personal and professional):

For Microsoft 365 Business Subscriptions:

After cancelling Office 365 Business subscription, the data goes in:

• Expired Stage (30 Days): Users have normal access to Office 365 services and data. However, the admin does have access to the admin center to rectify the subscription.
• Disabled Stage (90 Days): Users no longer have access to the application, data, or services. However, the global/billing admin can access the admin center and data to extract or back up.
• Deleted Stage (120-180 days): The Microsoft 365 subscription is permanently deleted, and data is unrecoverable.

For Microsoft 365 Personal/Family Subscriptions:

After cancelling Office 365 Family/Personal subscription, the data goes in:

• Limited Access within 30 days: Data goes to the read-only phase, where the users are allowed to view and download files instead of editing or uploading new ones.
• Data Deletion After 180 Days: If you don’t reactivate your Office 365 account, the data gets deleted permanently from the Microsoft system after 180 days of subscription cancellation.

How to Cancel Microsoft 365 Personal or Family Subscription?

If you’ve Microsoft 365 Personal/Family plan, then follow the below steps to remove Office 365 subscription:

1. Sign in to your Microsoft account using the credentials.
2. In the menu, tap on Services and Subscription.
3. Look for your active Microsoft 365 plan and click Manage.
4. Choose the Turn off recurring billing if you want to continue the subscription until the billing date. If you want to cancel the subscription immediately, tap on Cancel Subscription.

How to Cancel Microsoft 365 Business Subscription?

If you’re a Microsoft 365 Business user, then here is how to remove Office 365 subscription:

For Microsoft Customer Agreement MCA billing account type:

1. Go to the Microsoft 365 admin center and tap on Subscription.

   Note: If you're using the Dashboard view, go to Billing, then Your products.

2. Select the subscription that you want to cancel.
3. Tap on Cancel subscription under Subscription status in the Billing settings section.
4. If you’re within the grace period during which you can cancel your subscription. Select a reason why you’re cancelling, provide optional feedback, then choose Cancel subscription.
5. If you’re beyond the grace period, you can only turn off recurring billing. Review the information, then click on Edit the recurring billing settings. Select Off, then tap on Save.

For Microsoft Online Subscription Agreement (MOSA) billing account type:

1. Go to the Microsoft 365 admin center and tap on Subscriptions.

   Note: If you're using the Dashboard view, go to the Billing, then Your products page.

2. Select the subscription that you want to cancel.
3. Tap on Cancel subscription in the Subscription and payment settings section.
4. Tap on Cancel now or Cancel before the next renewal date, then select Next.
5. Select a reason why you’re cancelling, provide optional feedback, then select Cancel now.

How to Make Sure that You won’t Lose Any data?

Even after cancelling the subscription, Microsoft 365 keeps your data, but it might be vulnerable to loss. So, having a backup is wise. Manually backing up Microsoft 365 data is bulky and time-consuming. Also, there is a chance of data loss and permission issues. To escape such limitations, you can use professional Office 365 backup software.

The Kernel Office 365 Backup and Restore tool is one of the most powerful and recommended software that backs up all Office 365 data, such as email, calendars, etc. With this tool, you can back up bulk Office 365 data in PST, PDF, MSG, EML, HTML, & other file formats along with metadata intact.

• Try it for free

Some prominent features of the tool are:

• Quickly backup mailboxes from Microsoft 365.
• Save contacts and calendars from Office 365 to local files.
• Backup data from primary, shared, and archive mailboxes.
• Split PST files to manage large mailboxes in smaller file chunks.
• 'Skip Previously Migrated Items' features to prevent data duplicity.
• Restore data from the existing backup or the Archive OST/PST file.
• Advanced filters to backup specific mailboxes and folders.

Summing Up

Now that you’ve understood the common reasons, impact, and step-by-step process to cancel Microsoft 365 subscription. Be it you’ve a Microsoft 365 Personal/Family subscription or a business subscription, you are now familiar with the procedure to end Microsoft 365 subscription.

However, Microsoft 365 provides enough time to back up/download data to prevent data loss. The manual process may bother you first, so using the professional Office 365 backup software is recommended. It has many advanced features and capabilities that make your data safe and secure. Get the free trial version today and get hands-on experience now!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1. How to remove Office 365 subscription from my Microsoft account?

Login to your Admin Centre, go to Billing, then tap on Product Page. Select the subscription from which you want to remove licenses and tap on Remove License.

Q2. Is my Microsoft subscription automatically renewed?

Your subscription will automatically renew each month/year, when you have recurring billing for your Microsoft 365 business plan.

Q3. How to transfer Office 365 subscription to new computer?

To transfer Microsoft 365 subscription to a new computer, follow the steps below:

1. Sign in to Office 365 and deactivate Microsoft 365 from the old computer.
2. In the new computer, go to the Office 365 website and activate the Office 365 subscription.
3. From the Microsoft Store, install the Office 365 application on the new computer.
4. Enter the product key to activate the license on your new device.
5. Confirm the transferred subscription on the new device, and all set!