How to clear an Apple Account balance to exactly 0.00
Store credit on an Apple Account cannot be withdrawn or transferred — it can only be spent, or in small amounts removed by Apple Support. Here are the four routes that actually work, and which one fits which situation.
People usually arrive here for one of two reasons: the balance is blocking a country change, or they simply want the account tidy. The methods are the same either way — but if a region change is the goal, note that only exactly 0.00 counts.
First: find the exact amount
Open the App Store, tap your profile picture at the top right and read the credit under your account name. If nothing is shown there, the balance is already zero. Write down the exact figure including cents — every method below depends on it.
Method 1. Spend it on ordinary purchases
Apple always applies available store credit to an App Store, iTunes, Books or subscription purchase before it touches a card. So the balance goes down on anything you were going to buy anyway.
This is the right method when the balance is comfortably large — a $12.40 leftover is easily spent. It is the wrong method when you need to land on zero, because a purchase bigger than your credit takes the difference from your payment method and leaves you a smaller, odder balance instead of nothing.
Method 2. Spend it to the cent with a calculated plan for a region change
To hit exactly 0.00 you need a set of purchases whose total equals the balance precisely. That means working across price tiers — apps at $0.99 and $1.99, in-app items at their own fixed points — and, in the United States, adding sales tax to every line before comparing.
This is exactly what Last Cent does: you type in the balance, it searches for a combination that sums to it and shows you the list to buy. It never asks you to sign in to your Apple Account, cannot see your real balance and does not make the purchases — those stay with you.
Free iPhone app, iOS 17 or later. Works with US dollars, roubles and Turkish lira.
Get Last CentMethod 3. Put it towards a subscription
Credit is used for subscription renewals too, so an active iCloud+ or Apple Music plan will eat the balance over a month or two without you doing anything. It is the least effort of all the methods — and useless if you are in a hurry, since you cannot control the timing, and a partial charge leaves a remainder anyway.
One caveat if the goal is a region change: active subscriptions are themselves a blocker, so this method solves one problem while creating another. Use it only when you are not switching countries.
Method 4. Ask Apple Support to remove it
Apple can zero out a small remaining balance at their discretion, and they do it fairly often for the sub-dollar amounts that block region changes. Contact them through getsupport.apple.com or the Apple Support app, choose the Apple Account / billing topic, and explain that you are trying to change your country and cannot spend the remainder.
It costs nothing and is worth trying first for very small amounts. It is not guaranteed, the answer can take a few days, and larger balances are normally refused — Apple's position is that credit is there to be spent.
What does not work
- Withdrawing it. There is no path from store credit to a bank account or card.
- Transferring it to another Apple Account, or to the same account in a different country.
- Gifting the balance. Store credit cannot be used to buy gift cards, so it cannot be passed on that way.
- Waiting it out. The balance does not expire.
Which method to use
| Situation | Best route |
|---|---|
| Large balance, no region change planned | Method 1 — just spend it normally |
| Any balance, region change needed | Method 2 — a plan that lands on 0.00 |
| Small balance, no rush, no region change | Method 3 — let a subscription absorb it |
| Under about a dollar, nothing costs that little | Method 4 first, then Method 2 with a top-up |
If your leftover is in the last row, the guide to balances that are too small to spend goes through it properly.