Title: Deactivate plugin with active subscriptions
Last modified: April 11, 2022

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# Deactivate plugin with active subscriptions

 *  Resolved [noihs](https://wordpress.org/support/users/noihs/)
 * (@noihs)
 * [4 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/deactivate-plugin-with-active-subscriptions/)
 * If I deactivate the plugin and I already have active subscriptions that are charged
   through paypal, will they stop working?
 * I want to stop offering Paypal as a payment method but I am afraid to deactivate
   it but for those who have already paid a subscription with Paypal, I would like
   to keep it for them.

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

 *  Plugin Support [Syde Niklas](https://wordpress.org/support/users/niklasinpsyde/)
 * (@niklasinpsyde)
 * [4 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/deactivate-plugin-with-active-subscriptions/#post-15552676)
 * Hi [@noihs](https://wordpress.org/support/users/noihs/),
 * That depends on how your subscription was initially created. For example, with
   the previous PayPal Standard integration, subscriptions exist at PayPal regardless
   of whether or not the Standard gateway is active. PayPal generates renewal payments
   and then only sends a status update to WooCommerce to “mirror” the subscription
   on the site.
 * But with PayPal Payments, the subscription exists only in WooCommerce and not
   at PayPal. PayPal Payments saves a payment method in a secure Vault. WooCommerce
   Subscriptions creates the renewal order and then charges the vaulted payment 
   method at PayPal.
    When PayPal Payments (or Vaulting in the plugin settings) 
   is disabled, then it will no longer be possible to charge the PayPal account 
   because there would be no “access key” for the Vault anymore. The saved payment
   method would still exist within the Vault, but it is essentially locked and you
   couldn’t access the funds.
 * Kind regards,
    Niklas
 *  Thread Starter [noihs](https://wordpress.org/support/users/noihs/)
 * (@noihs)
 * [4 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/deactivate-plugin-with-active-subscriptions/#post-15555895)
 * All the subscriptions have been created with PayPal Payments.
 * And if I deactivate the payment method in the WooCommerce settings but leave 
   the PayPal Payments plugin activated, would the subscription renewals still work?
 *  Plugin Support [Syde Niklas](https://wordpress.org/support/users/niklasinpsyde/)
 * (@niklasinpsyde)
 * [4 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/deactivate-plugin-with-active-subscriptions/#post-15556454)
 * The safest method for the moment would be to keep the checkbox for `Enable the
   PayPal Gateway` checked and Vaulting enabled so that the actual gateway is active
   from a WooCommerce perspective.
 * You could then disable all of the buttons with the settings for:
    `Enable buttons
   on Checkout/Single Product/Cart/Mini Cart` [https://woocommerce.com/document/woocommerce-paypal-payments/#button-on-checkout](https://woocommerce.com/document/woocommerce-paypal-payments/#button-on-checkout)
 * This will effectively remove PayPal Payments from the store front-end while the
   Vaulting and subscription renewal logic should continue to work in the background.
   We are looking into options that could allow disabling the entire gateway without
   affecting subscription functionality. But in most cases, the effective end result
   should be the same with the approach mentioned above.
    I hope this helps!
 * Kind regards,
    Niklas
 *  Plugin Support [Femi](https://wordpress.org/support/users/femiyb/)
 * (@femiyb)
 * [4 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/deactivate-plugin-with-active-subscriptions/#post-15588140)
 * Hi there
 * We have not heard back from you in a while, so I’m marking this thread as resolved.
   
   Hopefully, you were able to proceed as advised above. If you have any further
   questions, please feel free to reopen this topic or create a new one.
 * Cheers! 🙂

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

The topic ‘Deactivate plugin with active subscriptions’ is closed to new replies.

 * ![](https://ps.w.org/woocommerce-paypal-payments/assets/icon-256x256.png?rev=
   3234615)
 * [WooCommerce PayPal Payments](https://wordpress.org/plugins/woocommerce-paypal-payments/)
 * [Frequently Asked Questions](https://wordpress.org/plugins/woocommerce-paypal-payments/#faq)
 * [Support Threads](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/woocommerce-paypal-payments/)
 * [Active Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/woocommerce-paypal-payments/active/)
 * [Unresolved Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/woocommerce-paypal-payments/unresolved/)
 * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/woocommerce-paypal-payments/reviews/)

 * 4 replies
 * 3 participants
 * Last reply from: [Femi](https://wordpress.org/support/users/femiyb/)
 * Last activity: [4 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/deactivate-plugin-with-active-subscriptions/#post-15588140)
 * Status: resolved