Welcome to our guide for troubleshooting any technical issues you may encounter as a free or paid subscriber on Substack. In this guide, you'll find helpful tips on how to resolve problems such as:
- What is Substack
- How to manage your subscription
- How to unsubscribe from a Substack as a free reader
- How to cancel your paid subscription
- What to do when you stop receiving emails
- What to do when you see a paywall but have paid
We recommend starting with the FAQ that matches your specific issue. If you need further assistance, our support team is just a click away at https://www.substack.com/support
What is Substack?
Substack is where you can read posts, listen to podcasts, watch videos, or chat with your favorite creator on the web or the app with no noise. When you subscribe to a Substack, an account is automatically created for you using the email address you enter.
You can sign into Substack at this link and see a list of Substacks you’re subscribed to on your account Settings: http://www.substack.com/sign-in
Select whether you'd like a secure access link emailed to you or log in using your password.
If you're unable to sign in, you may have entered an incorrect email address during subscription.
For troubleshooting tips, learn more here: How do I log into my Substack account?
How do I manage my subscription?
Sign in via a Substack publication
To manage your subscription to a Substack, sign into your favorite Substack and select “Manage subscription” from the profile menu. At this time, you can only fully manage your subscription on the web version of Substack and not on the Substack apps.
On your Manage Subscription page, you can:
- Unsubscribe as a free reader or cancel your paid subscription
- Change your password
- Troubleshoot any email delivery issues
Sign in to your Substack account
Alternatively, you can view a list of all your free and paid subscriptions on your Substack account Settings page at https://substack.com/settings
Sign into your Substack account and click on your profile icon. In the drop-down menu, select Settings and scroll to the Subscriptions section.
How do I unsubscribe from a Substack as a free reader?
Head to the Notifications section on your Manage Subscription page.
To stop receiving specific emails, slide the toggle next to a section. To completely unsubscribe from a Substack, click the red “Unsubscribe” button to stop receiving all emails moving forward.
How do I cancel my paid subscription?
If you wish to cancel your paid subscription:
1. Head to the Account Actions section on your Manage Subscription page. Select “To cancel your paid subscription, click here.”
2. You can either pause your subscription or cancel it completely by selecting “Cancel Subscription.”
Your paid subscriber benefits will continue until the end of the time period you've paid for. Once your paid subscription ends, you'll become a free subscriber.
I used to receive emails but they’ve stopped– what happened?
Check your Promotions or Spam folders for the emails.
If found:
- In Promotions: Drag the email to your Primary or Inbox.
- In Spam: Mark the email as "Not Spam" and add the creator’s Substack email address to your contacts.
If you're not receiving email newsletters, it's possible that when you downloaded the Substack app, you selected "Smart notifications". With smart notifications, you'll primarily receive push notifications about new posts in the app and may receive email notifications about posts you've missed if you haven't opened the Substack app in a while.
To re-enable emails, follow the steps here: Will I still get emails if I have the Substack app?
I paid for a plan but I see a paywall– what can I do?
If you’ve paid for a subscription but see a paywall or your status says “Free subscriber”, follow these steps:
- It’s possible you mis-typed your email or you have multiple accounts. Try to remember if you have another email address and sign into Substack.
- If you're still not seeing a paid subscription, contact our Support team with the following information so they can locate your paid subscription:
- Any other email addresses you might have used on Substack. If you received a receipt, the billing email address is listed in the body of the email. It says: "Subscription for [EMAIL ADDRESS]"
- The last four digits of the card used for the payment
- The date and amount of the charge
- The zip/postal code linked to the credit card