HBO Now 101: How to Transfer Your Account to Another Provider

Update: HBO discontinued this service. Your best bet for transferring your data from one account to another is to save a record of your watch list. That way, you can add your titles back manually with your new account.

Now that you can add an HBO Now subscription to your Hulu account, you might be wishing you didn't already have an HBO subscription through, say, Google or iTunes. You might be thinking it would be convenient to have all of your services tied to one account, instead of having them spread out across various apps. Fortunately for you, it's possible to transfer your HBO Now account between different providers.

Full disclosure — the process isn't the smoothest, and may actually take some time. But you will be able to retain your current HBO account, with features like your watch list intact. So to those who want to link a current HBO subscription to their Hulu account, or to change providers for any other reason at all, here's what to do.

Step 1: Cancel Your Subscription

It's going to feel painful, but you must cancel your subscription in order for this to work. HBO won't let you switch between providers while you still have an active account.

Don't worry — canceling your subscription doesn't delete your HBO Now profile. HBO wants you to return, so your information will remain safe.

To cancel your subscription, find your provider in the list below, and follow the instructions in the link provided.

1. Amazon Appstore
2. Amazon Channels
3. Apple iTunes
4. Google Play
5. PlayStation Vue (go here, sign in, then tap "Cancel" next to HBO)
6. Roku

Step 2: Wait Until the End of the Billing Month

When you cancel your subscription, your service doesn't necessarily end. HBO will still give you access to your account until the end of your billing month. That's convenient for people looking to squeeze every show they can out of a subscription they don't want anymore, but it's not so convenient for those looking to switch providers.

This lag time means you can't fully change your HBO Now provider until the end of the billing month. If you canceled your subscription towards the end of that month, great. If you canceled it at the beginning ... you'll have quite some time to wait.

Step 3: Sign Up with a New Provider

Once your previous month of service has ended, you'll need to sign up with the new provider of your choice. This will be as simple as signing up through the provider's app. For example, if you are on iOS and sign up through Apple's HBO Now app, you will be signing up with Apple as a provider.

Alternatively, if you want to sign up with your Hulu account, you need to download Hulu's app, then sign up through its billing system.

The only wrinkle here is that you'll need to make sure to sign up with your old HBO Now credentials — in other words, the same email and password combination. That way, you will regain access to your original account.

Step 4: Sign into HBO

Once you've signed up with your new provider, head to HBO's Switch-Provider page. Sign in with your HBO credentials, tap your provider, and viola — your account is officially ready to go with your new provider.

Note: If your provider is Hulu, you won't need an HBO account. Just download and log into the Hulu Live TV app to watch HBO content.

How was your experience? Was it painful? If you still have a whole month left with your current provider, I would be surprised if it wasn't. But at least now you have the flexibility to choose whichever provider you like.

Enjoy your Game of Thrones on whichever platform you wish.

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Cover image by Jake Peterson/Gadget Hacks