How to cancel a PayPal payment before it's too late

PayPal makes it easy to send money online, but sometimes it can be too easy. If you enter the wrong email address and click send before you notice, PayPal instantly removes that money from your account. The good news is that if you catch it soon enough, and under the right circumstances, you may be able to cancel a PayPal payment and get your money back.

What are your options? Please keep reading to learn how to cancel a PayPal payment and what to do when it’s too late.

Can you cancel a PayPal payment?

You can cancel a PayPal payment, but only under particular circumstances. Unfortunately, the conditions required to cancel a PayPal payment are pretty specific.

You can cancel a PayPal payment when:

• The recipient’s email doesn’t have a registered PayPal account. The transfer will be completed as soon as the email owner registers it.
• The recipient’s email is not verified. As soon as it’s confirmed, the transfer is complete.
• Sometimes, the recipient chooses not to accept certain transfers automatically. An example is if the payment is made in an unpreferred currency.

Fortunately, this covers a significant reason you’d want to cancel a PayPal payment: entering the wrong email address. If the email address doesn’t exist, the money will stay in limbo, and even if you don’t cancel it, the payment will automatically be returned to your account after 30 days. If the email address exists but isn’t registered to a PayPal account, you must cancel it quickly before it gets claimed.

Certain payments need to be accepted, in which case you can cancel them if they haven’t been claimed. Once the transfer shows as “Completed,” and the money is in the other person’s account, you can no longer cancel the PayPal transaction from your end. Don’t give up just yet, though! You may be able to get some help from PayPal.

How to cancel a pending PayPal payment

It’s easy to remember how to cancel a PayPal payment once you’ve done it, but it can be confusing the first time if you don’t know where to look.

How to cancel a PayPal payment on the web:

1. Log into your PayPal account.
2. Click Activity at the top of the page.
3. Find the payment. It should be under Pending if it hasn’t been claimed.
4. Click Cancel. If you don’t see this option, the payment is complete.

How to cancel a PayPal payment on the mobile app:

1. If you haven’t yet, download the PayPal app from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store. And set it up.
2. Launch the PayPal app.
3. Go into the Wallet tab.
4. Tap on the Activity tab.
5. Find the payment and select it.
6. Hit Cancel.

Although you will get your money back, it may not return to the same place it came from. PayPal automatically withdraws money from your bank account when your PayPal balance is insufficient, and instead of returning the money to your bank, it will appear in your PayPal balance. From there, it’s easy to transfer it back to your bank account, although it may take a few days.

How to cancel a recurring payment on PayPal

Recurring payments, like subscriptions, are easy to set up on PayPal. However, when your subscription ends, you may need to cancel the PayPal transaction in addition to canceling the subscription with the business itself.

There are two ways to do this; the first is very similar to the method listed above. The only difference is that you need to filter for Subscription Payments on the Activity page. The other way to cancel a recurring payment on PayPal is entirely different. You still need to log into the website, but that’s the only step the two have in common.

How to cancel a recurring payment (subscription) on PayPal website: 

1. Log into your PayPal account.
2. Click the gear icon in the top right.
3. Go into the Payments tab.
4. Click on Automatic Payments.
5. Select the recurring payment or subscription you want to cancel.
6. You will usually get a couple of options. You can either hit the Manage and cancel at [company name] or select Remove PayPal as payment method.

How to cancel a recurring payment (subscription) on PayPal mobile app:

1. If you haven’t yet, download the PayPal app from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store. And set it up.
2. Launch the PayPal app.
3. Go into the Wallet tab.
4. Tap on the Manage AutoPay button.
5. Select the recurring payment or subscription you want to cancel.
6. Hit Manage.
7. Select either Manage and cancel at [company name] or Cancel this autopay.

Note that you have to cancel the recurring payment at least 24 hours before it takes place. You can still cancel the subscription, but the next payment may still go through.

What are my options if I can’t cancel the PayPal payment?

If you don’t catch the payment in time, or the recipient already has a PayPal account, you still have a few options to get your money back. The ideal situation here is if you know and trust the recipient. Simply ask them to refund the money (nicely). It’s easy for them to do from the Activity page, and won’t cost anyone any money.

A wide variety of online retailers also accept PayPal. These transfers are more difficult to get back. Your first option here should be to request a refund from the retailer, which you can typically do on the website or by reaching out to customer service. You will probably need to send back whatever you purchased; the process could take a week or more.

A retailer may deny your refund request, but your options don’t end there. You can file a dispute with PayPal, and have the PayPal team mediate between you and the recipient. Explain your problem and they might be able to help.

How to report a problem on PayPal website:

1. Log into your PayPal account.
2. Click Activity at the top of the page.
3. Find the payment and select it.
4. Click on Report a problem.

How to report a problem on PayPal app:

1. If you haven’t yet, download the PayPal app from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store. And set it up.
2. Launch the PayPal app.
3. Go into the Wallet tab.
4. Tap on the Activity tab.
5. Find the payment and select it.
6. Hit Report a problem.

FAQs