My kid made an in-app purchase without asking. How do I get a refund?

The first hour: five steps

1. Find out who charged you. For Apple, search your email for "receipt from Apple" or "invoice from Apple". For Google, open play.google.com, tap your profile picture, then Payments & subscriptions and Budget & order history. Write down the date, amount, item and order number.
2. Stop the next charge. If it's a subscription, cancel it now (steps below). Then turn on purchase approvals using our guide to stopping in-app purchases.
3. Request the refund from Apple or Google, as described below.
4. Contact the developer if the store sends you there or the window has passed.
5. Talk to your child calmly. Show them the approval screen they'll see next time, and agree that any "buy" button means "go and get a grown-up".

Apple: request a refund on reportaproblem.apple.com

1. Sign in to reportaproblem.apple.com.
2. Tap or click I'd like to.
3. Choose Request a refund.
4. Choose the reason.
5. Tap Next.
6. Choose the app, subscription or other item.
7. Tap Submit.

Apple says to wait 24 to 48 hours for an update. You can follow it under Check Status of Claims on the same site. Apple adds that contacting it by phone or chat won't speed up a request that's already filed.

A few situations come up often with kids:

• The purchase was on your child's account. If you're the Family Sharing organizer, tap the Apple Account button and choose All. Purchases charged to your shared payment method appear there.
• The charge is still pending. You can't request a refund until the email receipt arrives.
• You can't find the charge at all. Apple notes that unfamiliar charges can be several purchases grouped into one bill, or items bought by a family member. Check each Apple Account you use.

Apple's refund page states no deadline, and eligibility can vary by country or region.

Google Play: request a refund

Google's policy for apps, games and in-app purchases, subscriptions included, splits by time:

• Within 48 hours: you may be able to get a refund, depending on the details of the purchase. Use the Request a refund link in Google Play Help.
• After 48 hours: contact the developer, who can process refunds under its own policies and applicable law.

If the purchase doesn't show up in that request flow, Google gives a web route:

1. Open play.google.com in a browser.
2. Click your profile picture.
3. Choose Payments & subscriptions.
4. Choose Budget & order history.
5. Next to the order, choose Report a problem.
6. Pick the option that fits and say you'd like a refund.
7. Submit the request.

Google says a decision usually comes within one day and can take up to four, and that repeat requests won't speed it up.

Three rules matter for families:

• A purchase "accidentally made by a friend or family member with your account" goes through a refund request, not an unauthorized-charge report.
• The unauthorized-charge report is for purchases nobody you know made, and you have 120 days from the transaction to file it.
• If your account isn't protected with authentication, Google says it usually can't issue a refund. That's one more reason to set purchase verification to Always.

If you're in the European Economic Area or the UK, Google has a separate refund policy for you.

Apple and Google side by side

When to contact the developer

Google says most Play Store apps come from third-party developers who can resolve purchase issues and process refunds. Find the "App support" section on the Google Play listing and include the transaction ID, the purchase date, the amount and your reason. Google says you should expect a response within three business days.

Support addresses on the Google Play listings of the Frozen apps we cover, as of 13 October 2026:

For App Store purchases, Apple's own refund page is the route Apple describes, and its support team handles refunds that the site can't.

Subscriptions: cancel first, then ask

Canceling stops renewals but doesn't return money already charged.

• iPhone or iPad: Settings > your name > Subscriptions > the subscription > Cancel Subscription. Apple says you can't cancel a family member's subscription, so if your child subscribed on their own account, cancel while signed in to it.
• Android: open your subscriptions in Google Play, select the one to stop and tap Cancel subscription. Uninstalling the app doesn't cancel it.

Some developers state their own terms. Budge Studios' Royal Castle listing says that after canceling "you will not get a refund for any remaining period". The Disney Coloring World guide walks through one subscription in detail, and our guide to reading a kids' app listing shows how to spot subscriptions and in-app purchases before the next download.

Checked on 13 October 2026 against Apple Support (refund requests, refund status, purchase history, canceling subscriptions) and Google Play Help (refund policies, apps and in-app purchases policy, refund requests, refund timelines, contacting a developer, subscriptions). Developer emails and terms come from the US Google Play and App Store listings on the same date. Refund decisions belong to Apple, Google or the developer.