Netflix is canceling old, unused accounts

By Will Nicol May 21, 2020

Netflix announced Thursday that it will begin deactivating long-dormant accounts, helping customers who no longer use the service cancel their subscriptions.

The announcement came from Director of Product Innovation Eddy Wu, who said “the last thing we want is people paying for something they’re not using.”

It’s an unusual move for a subscription-based service, which normally relies on long-time subscribers.

How does this initiative affect you? Netflix lists two situations in which they’ll flag an account for removal: If someone signed up for their account a year ago but haven’t watched anything, or accounts that haven’t watched anything for more than two years.

So odds are, your Netflix account won’t be affected. According to Wu, the dormant accounts add up to “less than half of one percent of our overall member base.”

But if you are one of these rare subscribers who never use Netflix but want to keep your account active, you can still do so. Netflix will send dormant members an email or in-app notification asking if they still want to keep their account active. Simply reply yes and your account won’t be closed.

If you do close your account but decide to return later, Netflix will save your preferences and account information for up to 10 months.

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Will Nicol is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends. He covers a variety of subjects, particularly emerging technologies, movies…

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