PayPal - How do I issue a refund?
Updated for 2026: we first wrote this in 2008. The tech has changed, so we brought it up to date.
To refund a PayPal payment:
- Log in to PayPal.
- Go to Activity.
- Find the payment you want to refund and select it.
- Click Issue a refund.
- Enter the refund amount and click Continue. You can issue a full or partial refund. It's a good idea to add a note to the customer about what you're refunding.
- Review the details and click Issue Refund.
A few things to know, according to PayPal: you can refund a payment within 180 days of the payment date, and once a refund is issued it can't be canceled. Some payments (like personal payments) can only be refunded in full.