---
title: "Payments due and what happens next"
url: https://storagestudio.us/wiki/payments-due-and-what-happens-next
category: "Licensing & payments"
tags: ["payments", "billing", "pay now", "overdue", "delta storage", "account"]
summary: "If a payment hasn't gone through, the Billing screen in your account shows what's due, a Pay now button, and a dated timeline of what happens next if it stays unpaid. Paying at any step stops everything after it."
updated: 2026-10-05T16:45:49.000Z
---

# Payments due and what happens next

If a payment hasn't gone through, the Billing screen in your account shows what's due, a Pay now button, and a dated timeline of what happens next if it stays unpaid. Paying at any step stops everything after it.

If a payment hasn't gone through — an expired card, a bank decline, not enough funds — nothing changes on the day. You'll get an email, the Storage Studio app shows a notice, and the **Billing** screen of [your account](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/your-account) shows exactly what's due and what to do.

## Paying what's due

1. Sign in to your account at **storagestudio.us** and open **Billing**.
2. Choose **Pay now** next to the payment that's due, or **Update card** to change the card on file first.
3. That's it — the app picks the payment up within minutes, or straight away if you choose **I've paid — check again** in the app.

Tuhi, the assistant on our website, also tells you about anything due as soon as you sign in, with a link straight to **Billing**.

## The payment timeline

```mermaid
%% caption: What happens while a payment stays unpaid — paying at any step stops the rest
flowchart TD
  A[Payment due] --> B[Delta storage read-only]
  B --> C[Delta storage locked]
  C --> D[Scheduled for deletion]
  D --> E[Delta storage deleted]
  A --> F[Storage Studio keeps working]
  F --> G[Storage Studio pauses new work]
  G --> H[Licence reset — files untouched]
```

*Flowchart — What happens while a payment stays unpaid — paying at any step stops the rest. Outline:*

- Payment due
  - leads to Delta storage read-only
  - leads to Storage Studio keeps working
- Delta storage read-only
  - leads to Delta storage locked
- Delta storage locked
  - leads to Scheduled for deletion
- Scheduled for deletion
  - leads to Delta storage deleted
- Storage Studio keeps working
  - leads to Storage Studio pauses new work
- Storage Studio pauses new work
  - leads to Licence reset — files untouched

When a payment stays unpaid, **Billing** shows a dated timeline of what happens next, with the next step highlighted and a count of the days left. The steps depend on what the payment is for.

**Delta storage (Delta Trust and Delta Drive)** keeps your files on our servers every day, so its steps come sooner:

| Step | What it means |
|---|---|
| **Payment due** | Everything still works. |
| **Read-only** | You can still download and restore everything. New uploads and backups pause. |
| **Locked** | Only the billing page works until the payment is made — about two weeks after the payment was due. |
| **Scheduled for deletion** | Your Delta storage is marked for deletion. Paying still stops it. |
| **Deleted** | Your stored files are permanently removed. This can't be undone. |

**Storage Studio** itself is patient — it costs nothing to keep running on your Mac:

| Step | What it means |
|---|---|
| **Payment due** | Everything keeps working. |
| **Paused** | Features that start new work pause. Everything you've already moved stays where it is and keeps working, and you can move things back. |
| **Licence reset** | The licence ends. Your files are never touched. |

While you have Delta storage that hasn't been deleted, Storage Studio stays fully working — it's the app you'd use to download and restore your files, so we never pause it first.

**Paying at any step stops everything after it.** The exact date of each step is on your Billing screen; it depends on your plan and when the payment was due.

## Not sure why a payment failed?

Your bank's message is in the payment email. The most common causes are an expired card and a bank that wants you to approve the payment. If it still won't go through, open **Support** in your account and we'll help.

More answers: https://storagestudio.us/faq

See also: [Fix Payment](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/fix-payment), [Payment needed](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/payment-needed), [How recurring payments work](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/how-recurring-payments-work), [Your account](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/your-account).

## What links here

- [Your account on storagestudio.us](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/your-account)