What "subscription" means on YouTube and how to stop it

A YouTube subscription is not a paid membership — it is a free follow you place on a channel so its new videos appear in your feed. When you subscribe to a channel, YouTube starts showing you uploads from that creator in the "Subscriptions" tab on your home page. Cancelling a subscription means you stop following that channel and its videos no longer show up automatically in your feed.

You can cancel a subscription in seconds from any device. The steps differ slightly depending on whether you are on a phone, tablet, or computer, but the process is the same: find the channel, locate the "Subscribed" button, and click it to toggle the subscription off.

Key Takeaways

  • Unsubscribing from a YouTube channel removes it from your Subscriptions feed but does not delete your account or affect any paid memberships you may have.
  • On a phone or tablet, open the channel, tap the "Subscribed" button (usually red), and tap "Unsubscribe" from the menu that appears.
  • On a computer, open the channel and click the "Subscribed" button near the channel name, then click "Unsubscribe" in the dropdown.
  • You can also manage subscriptions from your YouTube settings by going to "Manage all" under the Subscriptions section on your home page.

How to unsubscribe on a phone or tablet

Open the YouTube app and navigate to the channel you want to unsubscribe from. You can search for the channel by name, or if you have watched videos from it recently, scroll through your history to find it. Once you are on the channel page, look for the red "Subscribed" button — it usually appears near the top of the page, below the channel name or banner image.

Tap the "Subscribed" button. A small menu will pop up with two options: "Unsubscribe" and "Notifications". Tap "Unsubscribe". The button will change from red to gray and will now say "Subscribe", confirming that you have cancelled the subscription. You will no longer see videos from this channel in your Subscriptions feed.

How to unsubscribe on a computer

Go to YouTube.com and search for the channel you want to unsubscribe from, or click on a video from that channel to reach its page. Once you are viewing the channel, look for the "Subscribed" button — it is usually located to the right of the channel name at the top of the page, and it appears in red or a dark color.

Click the "Subscribed" button. A dropdown menu will appear with options including "Unsubscribe" and "Notifications". Click "Unsubscribe". The button will change to gray and display "Subscribe" instead, showing that the subscription has been cancelled.

Unsubscribing from your Subscriptions page

You can also cancel multiple subscriptions at once by going to your Subscriptions page. On a phone or tablet, tap your profile picture in the top right corner, then tap "Subscriptions". On a computer, click your profile picture in the top right, then click "Subscriptions". You will see a list of all the channels you follow.

Find the channel you want to unsubscribe from and tap or click the three-dot menu icon next to it. Select "Unsubscribe" from the menu. The channel will disappear from your list. This method is useful if you want to review all your subscriptions at once and remove several at the same time.

What happens after you unsubscribe

Once you unsubscribe, videos from that channel will no longer appear in your Subscriptions feed. However, you can still watch videos from that channel anytime by searching for it or visiting its page directly. Unsubscribing does not block the channel or prevent you from seeing its content — it straightforward stops YouTube from automatically showing you new uploads in your feed.

If you unsubscribe by mistake, you can resubscribe at any time by clicking or tapping the "Subscribe" button on the channel page. There is no penalty for unsubscribing and resubscribing, and it does not affect any other YouTube settings or accounts you may have.

Unsubscribing does not cancel paid memberships

Some YouTube channels offer paid memberships — a separate service where you pay a monthly fee for perks like exclusive videos, badges, or early access to content. Unsubscribing from the free channel feed does not cancel a paid membership. If you have paid for a channel membership and want to stop paying, you must cancel the membership separately.

To cancel a paid membership, go to your profile picture, select "Purchases and memberships", find the channel membership you want to cancel, and click or tap "Manage". Then select "Cancel membership". Unsubscribing from the channel and cancelling a paid membership are two different actions, so make sure you do both if you want to stop both the free subscription and the paid membership.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does unsubscribing delete my YouTube account?

No. Unsubscribing from a channel only removes that one channel from your Subscriptions feed. Your YouTube account, watch history, playlists, and all other settings remain unchanged. You can unsubscribe from as many channels as you want without affecting your account.

Can I unsubscribe from a channel without the creator knowing?

YouTube does not notify creators when someone unsubscribes. The creator can see their total subscriber count, but they cannot see which individual users have unsubscribed. Your unsubscribe is private.

What if I unsubscribe and then change my mind?

You can resubscribe to any channel at any time by clicking or tapping the "Subscribe" button on its page. There is no waiting period or limit to how many times you can subscribe and unsubscribe.

Will the channel still recommend videos to me after I unsubscribe?

YouTube's recommendation algorithm may still suggest videos from channels you have unsubscribed from, based on your watch history and viewing habits. Unsubscribing only removes the channel from your Subscriptions feed — it does not tell YouTube to stop recommending its content entirely.

How do I unsubscribe from multiple channels at once?

Go to your Subscriptions page (tap or click your profile picture, then "Subscriptions"), find each channel you want to remove, and click or tap the three-dot menu next to it. Select "Unsubscribe" for each one. Unfortunately, YouTube does not offer a bulk unsubscribe feature that removes all subscriptions at once.