How to cancel Ancestry
Last verified 2026-06-16 · official source
Steps to cancel Ancestry
- Sign in to your Ancestry account at https://www.ancestry.com/account (use the same login that holds the membership you are billed on).
- Go to the Membership section of your account.
- Find the specific membership you want to end and click 'Cancel membership' (or 'Cancel trial' if you are on a free trial).
- Follow the on-screen steps. Ancestry presents retention choices first, asking whether you want to pause, switch, keep, or cancel the membership (a pause delays renewal for 1 or 2 months rather than canceling). Decline these and keep choosing the cancel path until cancellation is fully processed.
- Continue through the prompts until you reach the final confirmation and are issued a cancellation confirmation number. You are not canceled until you see this number on screen or receive it by email.
- If you hold more than one membership, repeat all steps for each one, since canceling one does not cancel the others.
- Save the cancellation confirmation number and the confirmation email as proof.
Ancestry cancellation phone
1-800-262-3787
Things to watch out for
- All Ancestry memberships and trials auto-renew by default (except gift memberships). Canceling is what turns off the next charge, so do it before the renewal date.
- Free trial: cancel before the trial period ends, otherwise it automatically rolls into a paid membership.
- If you bought the membership inside the Ancestry mobile app, it is billed and managed by the app store (Apple App Store, Google Play, or Amazon). You cannot cancel that one on the Ancestry website. You must cancel through that store's subscription settings, and any refund for an app-store purchase is handled by that store, not Ancestry.
- Canceling only stops future billing. It does NOT delete your account, family trees, or DNA results. After cancellation your account becomes a free registered guest and that data remains. Deleting the account is a separate action.
- Multiple memberships are canceled individually. Canceling one leaves the others billing.
- You are not canceled until you receive a cancellation confirmation number. Stopping partway through the flow (for example after only declining a save offer or choosing pause) may leave the membership active.
- If you cancel mid-term, you keep access to membership benefits until the paid period expires.
Refunds
Refund eligibility depends on plan type and where you bought it, per Ancestry's Renewal and Cancellation Terms. First subscription term that did not begin with a trial: within the first 14 days you can cancel for a full refund with immediate loss of access, or cancel effective at term end with no refund. Renewals of an Ancestry.com subscription: cancel within 7 days of the renewal date for a full refund. Subscriptions longer than one month billed upfront (including those sold through partner platforms): cancellable within the first 30 days for a full refund. Bundles (such as a DNA kit plus subscription) are returnable within 60 days of purchase. You are generally NOT eligible for a refund after a renewal or if you have previously subscribed, and refunds are not based on how much you used the service. App-store purchases are refunded by the app store, not Ancestry.
Primary path is self-serve online at ancestry.com/account. No phone call or in-person visit is required for a web-billed membership. Ancestry does not cancel through the app itself; in-app/app-store purchases must be canceled at the originating store. The number 1-800-262-3787 is Ancestry's customer support line and is the cancellation number named in Ancestry's own Terms and Conditions (AncestryDNA support is 1-800-958-9124 per the DNA Terms). Phone support hours were not confirmable from an authoritative Ancestry page (sources conflict between 24/7 and 7am-9pm MST), so phone_hours is left blank. Cancellation does not delete your trees, DNA data, or account; the account reverts to a free registered guest and you can restart later.