How to Fix Common HBO Max Subscription Not Working Problems

Is your HBO Max subscription not working despite having been billed for it? When this happens, you will be prompted to subscribe whenever you try to stream on HBO Max.

This guide will help you understand what triggers this problem as well as the various ways you can fix it.

To fix most HBO Max subscription issues, you should first check your subscription status. You should also try signing out and then back into your account and relinking the subscription to your HBO account.

Without much ado, let’s find out what causes HBO Max subscriptions not to work before we explore the various fixes for the problem.

Why is Your HBO Max Subscription Not Working?

Several things can cause HBO Max not to recognize your subscription. If you are already subscribed to HBO Max but are being promoted to subscribe, this could be the problem:

Your Subscription is Not Linked to Your Account

If not linked, you cannot be billed for the service, hence can’t access it

Inactive Subscription

Your HBO Max subscription could be either canceled or just expired

Failure to Verify Your Subscription

You did not verify the email address associated with your HBO account after the initial signup

Your Temporary Access Expired

The quick access you were given by customer support may have expired

How to Fix the HBO Max Subscription Not Working Issue

Before resulting in the more advanced solutions, try restarting the HBO Max application (app) on your device.

Simply close the app on your phone, computer or TV then launch it once again.

If this doesn’t seem to resolve the issues, here are some of the fixes that have been proven to work:

Solution 1: Check Whether Your HBO Max Subscription is Active

First things first, ensure that your subscription is still active. The following steps will help you do that:

Step #1: Open Your HBO Max Subscription Information

The right procedure here depends on the type of device you are using as illustrated below:

Tablet/ Phone

Launch the HBO Max app or navigate to HBOMax.com. Next, tap your Profile icon—towards the upper-right corner—and select Settings.

Finally, scroll down and tap on Subscription.

TV

For television sets, the procedure varies slightly depending on the type of TV you are using.

Essentially, you need to launch HBO Max on the TV and then select the Profile Icon.

Now follow the most appropriate procedure in accordance with your device type, as explained below:

1. Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and PlayStation

Having selected the Profile Icon, check whether you are signed into your account. If you are, you first need to sign out.

Thereafter, you should select the Sign In option and then enter the email address and password associated with your HBO Max account. Finally, select Sign In.

Note: Press the X button on your PlayStation to display the Keyboard

2. Roku

From your profile page, ensure that you are Signed Out. Now press the OK button on your Roku remote to reveal the keyboard.

Fill in your registered email address and password then select Sign In.

3. Other TVs

Are you using a Spectrum WorldBox, LG TV, Cox device, Xbox, Samsung TV, Xfinity, or XClass TV?

Just launch HBO Max on the TV, Choose the Profile Icon then select the Sign In option. This should take you to a screen that displays a 6-character verification code.

Using your phone or computer, navigate to the HBO Max Activation page. Alternatively, you could scan the QR code displayed on your TV using your phone.

You can now enter your email address and password to Sign Into your account.

Regardless of the device, the last operation should display your subscription information.

Step #2: Check Whether Your Subscription is Active

Depending on who the subscription is billed through, the following steps will help you check your subscription status:

(a) Amazon Appstore

Navigate to Amazon Subscriptions and use your credentials to sign into your Amazon account. This should display your HBO Max subscription information.

(b) Warner Media

If your subscription is billed through Warner Media, you don’t need to do much. Step #1 above should reveal the information you need.

In this case, the next billing date will be shown if your subscription is active.

(c) Google Play

Is your HBO max google play subscription not working? Navigate to Google Play Subscriptions then scroll down your list of subscriptions to find HBO Max.

In some cases, you may need to switch to Google accounts—which you can conveniently do from the upper-right corner of your screen.

(d) Apple

Launch the Settings app on your iOS device then tap on your name. Next, select Subscriptions and scroll down to find HBO Max.

(e) Samsung TV

Open the Samsung Checkout page and use your credentials to sign into your Samsung account.

Now open the Purchase History menu and select Subscriptions. Finally, select HBO Max from your list of subscriptions and check your Next Payment date on the Status field.

(f) Roku

Navigate to the Roku subscriptions page and provide your credentials to sign into your Roku account.

From your list of subscriptions, find HBO Max.

Note: If your subscription has expired, you just have to renew your subscription to stream your favorite shows and movies on HBO Max.

Solution 2: Sign Out the Back Into Your HBO Max Account

Are you still being promoted to renew your subscription, but have verified that your subscription is active?

A simple fix like signing out and then back into your account can help you resolve this issue.

This is how you should go about it:

Step #1: Sign Out of Your HBO Max Account

Navigate to HBOMax.com or launch the HBO Max app on your phone, tablet, or computer. 

Tap on your Profile Icon (towards the upper-right corner of the screen) and select the Settings Icon.

Now select the Sign Out option to log out of your account.

Note: It is advisable to sign out all the devices that are signed into your account.

In this regard, you could remotely sign out of other devices from your mobile device.

To do this:

1. Navigate to HBOMax.com or launch the HBO Max app on your device
2. Select your profile icon
3. Tap on the Settings Icon on your phone or click Settings on your computer
4. Scroll down to Devices then select the Manage Devices option

This should display a list of all the devices currently signed into your HBO Max account.

To sign a single device out, choose the X icon adjacent to its listing. Select Sign All Devices Out to sign all the listed devices out simultaneously.

Note: If one of the listed devices is already streaming, it won’t be signed out until the movie or show they are streaming is over.

Step #2: Sign In to Your HBO Max Account Again

Launch the HBO Max app once again and sign into your account using the procedure described in Solution #1 above.

Now try to play a movie or show to see whether the error message has cleared.

Solution 3: Restore Your App Store Subscription

Did you sign up for the service through the HBO Max app—on your Apple or Android device, a Samsung TV, or an Amazon Fire device?

If you did you can fix HBO Max subscription issues by just restoring your app store purchases.

To do this:

1. Launch the HBO Max app on the TV, tablet, or phone you used to buy the subscription
2. Navigate to the sign-in page and select the Restore Purchase option

Note: If you have an active subscription in that particular app store, HBO Max will find it and restore it.

Otherwise, you’ll get the “Can’t Verify your subscription” error message to tell you that the HBO Max Restore purchase is not working.

Solution 4: Link the Subscription to Your HBO Max Account

If HBO max is not recognizing subscriptions, chances are that you subscribed through a mobile provider, internet, or TV.

In such a case, the fix lies in linking the subscription to your HBO Max account as follows:

1. Sign in to your HBO Max account—as directed on solution #1 above
2. prompted to subscribe, select the already subscribed link—towards the bottom of the page
3. If you are not prompted, try to stream a movie or show
4. From the list of providers, choose the one you subscribed through
5. Now sign in to your account with the provider

The system will then find your subscription and link it to your HBO account.

You may now sign in using your HBO Max credentials on any supported device.

Bottom Line

An HBO Max subscription gives you convenient access to thousands of amazing movies and shows as such, it can be very frustrating to discover that your active HBO Max subscription is not working.

As we have established, this error may be caused by several things. Nonetheless, the above-described methods will help you troubleshoot and fix the HBO Max not working problem.

If none of these solutions seems to help, you can just contact the customer support team at HBO for further assistance.