{"meta":{"title":"Unlocking a locked account","intro":"Your account's paid features are locked if your payment is past due because of billing problems.","product":"Billing and payments","breadcrumbs":[{"href":"/en/billing","title":"Billing and payments"},{"href":"/en/billing/how-tos","title":"How-tos"},{"href":"/en/billing/how-tos/troubleshooting","title":"Troubleshooting"},{"href":"/en/billing/how-tos/troubleshooting/locked-account","title":"Locked account"}],"documentType":"article"},"body":"# Unlocking a locked account\n\nYour account's paid features are locked if your payment is past due because of billing problems.\n\nYou can unlock and access your account by updating your account's payment method and resuming paid status. We do not ask you to pay for the time elapsed in locked mode.\n\nYou can downgrade your user account or organization to GitHub Free to continue with the same advanced features in public repositories. For more information, see [Downgrading your account's plan](/en/billing/how-tos/manage-plan-and-licenses/downgrade-plan).\n\n## Unlocking an account's features due to a declined payment\n\nIf your account's advanced features are locked due to a declined payment, you'll need to update your billing information to trigger a newly authorized charge.\n\n1. In the upper-right corner of any page on GitHub, click your profile picture.\n\n2. Select the account you want to view and then access the \"Billing & Licensing\" pages:\n\n * **Personal accounts**: Click **Settings**, then in the **Access** section of the sidebar, click ** Billing & Licensing**.\n * **Organizations**: Click **Your organizations**, then next to the organization, click **Settings**. In the organization sidebar, click ** Billing & Licensing**.\n * For **enterprises**, click **Your enterprises**, then click the enterprise name. Click the ** Billing & Licensing** tab at the top of the page.\n\n3. From the list of \"Billing & licensing\" pages, click **Payment information** to display full details of your payment method.\n\n4. To edit or remove your payment method:\n\n * **Bank card or PayPal**: In \"Payment method\", click **Edit** to update your payment information or click **Remove** to remove your payment information.\n * **Azure subscription**: Under \"Azure subscription\", click to edit your subscription or to remove your subscription. See [Connecting an Azure subscription](/en/billing/how-tos/set-up-payment/connect-azure-sub).\n\n> \\[!NOTE]\n>\n> * You may see an authorization hold on your provided payment method once it's updated or after accruing significant usage of metered services. Authorization holds are temporary and are released as quickly as possible.\n> * If you have a paid subscription and remove your payment method, your subscription will automatically cancel on your next renewal date.\n> * If you are currently on an active paid trial, you will not be able to remove your payment method.\n> * To remove a payment method, you must have a balance of zero, and no billable metered usage in the current month, or the previous month if has yet to be paid.\n\nIf the new billing information is approved, we will immediately charge you for the paid product you chose. The account will automatically unlock when a payment has been successfully processed. Payments may take up to 24 hours to process.\n\n## Unlocking an account's features due to a failed authorization hold\n\nWhen initiating a subscription or trial, we verify the entered payment method using an authorization hold. If the hold is unsuccessful, the chosen subscription or trial will not activate.\n\nIf your account's advanced features are locked due to a failed authorization hold, you'll need to update your billing information to trigger a new authorization.\n\n1. In the upper-right corner of any page on GitHub, click your profile picture.\n\n2. Select the account you want to view and then access the \"Billing & Licensing\" pages:\n\n * **Personal accounts**: Click **Settings**, then in the **Access** section of the sidebar, click ** Billing & Licensing**.\n * **Organizations**: Click **Your organizations**, then next to the organization, click **Settings**. In the organization sidebar, click ** Billing & Licensing**.\n * For **enterprises**, click **Your enterprises**, then click the enterprise name. Click the ** Billing & Licensing** tab at the top of the page.\n\n3. From the list of \"Billing & licensing\" pages, click **Payment information** to display full details of your payment method.\n\n4. To edit or remove your payment method:\n\n * **Bank card or PayPal**: In \"Payment method\", click **Edit** to update your payment information or click **Remove** to remove your payment information.\n * **Azure subscription**: Under \"Azure subscription\", click to edit your subscription or to remove your subscription. See [Connecting an Azure subscription](/en/billing/how-tos/set-up-payment/connect-azure-sub).\n\n> \\[!NOTE]\n>\n> * You may see an authorization hold on your provided payment method once it's updated or after accruing significant usage of metered services. Authorization holds are temporary and are released as quickly as possible.\n> * If you have a paid subscription and remove your payment method, your subscription will automatically cancel on your next renewal date.\n> * If you are currently on an active paid trial, you will not be able to remove your payment method.\n> * To remove a payment method, you must have a balance of zero, and no billable metered usage in the current month, or the previous month if has yet to be paid.\n\nIf the new authorization is successful, the account will automatically unlock and you will be able to proceed with the chosen subscription."}