FAQs

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Effective Feb 24, 2020, we will be offering a paid digital membership for unlimited access to TheStar.com.my and app (“Digital Access”). This will ensure that we continue to provide reliable, relevant, and compelling content while maintaining the quality of journalism that readers trust us to uphold. The membership, called The Star Digital Access, also includes personalisation features to improve your reading experience.

Click here to sign up for a MyStar account and start your 1-month free trial.

Sorry, you can't track your article limit at the moment. We're still developing this part of the system so do bear with us while we continue to improve.

As a guest user without an active paid membership, you can access a limited number of articles for free each month. This limit resets every 30 days. This excludes premium content (marked as ‘PREMIUM’), which are exclusive to paid members, and content hosted on a separate subscription-based service, e.g. dimsum e-tuition videos.

While it’s not compulsory, we do recommend that you sign up for a MyStar account. As a member, you can start your 1-month free trial to The Star Digital Access and enjoy personalisation features to improve your reading experience.

With The Star Digital Access membership, you will be able to access all articles on TheStar.com.my and app, including premium content which are exclusive to paid members, excluding content hosted on other Star Media Group subscription-based services, e.g. dimsum e-tuition videos. Members can also access all personalisation features.

Kindly note that this membership is not ad-free. Digital ads will continue to appear.

Yes. At the moment The Star Digital Access and ePaper subscription are on two separate platforms.

MyStar membership newsletter

• A newsletter to update members on products, events, rewards, promotions, special privileges and initiatives from Star Media Group, our partners and advertisers.
• To sign up for the newsletter, log in to your MyStar account click and navigate to 'Manage profile' to opt-in for the newsletter.

Subscription-related emails

• The Star Digital Access members will automatically receive emails on promotions, reminders and invoices relevant to the digital membership service.

Curated newsletters

• The Star Daily Alert – A daily report of the most popular headlines summarised and packaged straight to your email inbox. Click here to sign up for free.
• The Star Evening Alert – A daily sneak peak at tomorrow's headline. Click here to sign up for free.
• Business & Finance – A weekly roundup of specially curated market news and insight. Click here to sign up for free.
• Health & Fitness – A fortnightly roundup of specially curated health news and stories. Click here to sign up for free.

MyStar membership newsletter

• Log in and navigate to 'Manage profile' to opt-out of the newsletter.

Subscription-related emails

• As a member of The Star Digital Access, you cannot unsubscribe from these emails as they contain important updates relevant to your subscription.

Curated newsletters

• Click the links below to unsubscribe from the respective newsletters.
  • Unsubscribe from The Star Daily Alert
  • Unsubscribe from The Star Evening Alert
  • Unsubscribe from Business & Finance newsletter
  • Unsubscribe from Health & Fitness newsletter

All email newsletters from The Star are free. We have a separate monthly subscription service that shares breaking news updates through SMS alerts.

Check your Junk/Spam folder and mark our newsletter as 'safe' so that it will appear in your Inbox in the future.

Please note that the various curated newsletters for The Star have different publishing schedules – Daily Alert is sent on a daily basis, the Business & Finance newsletter is sent once a week, and Health & Fitness is sent once every two weeks.

Members can access the following features:

• Bookmark: Save articles to read later (bookmarked stories will be removed after 30 days)
• My Library: Keep your bookmarks organised in folders to keep permanently
• Read Offline (App-only feature): Download stories to read offline
• News-in-audio: Listen to the latest news at your own convenience
• For you BETA: Your own personalised news page where you can follow topics and columnists as well as get recommended reading.
• Edit Menu (App-only feature): Customise your news navigation menu to see what matters to you
• Customised settings (App-only feature)
  a. Adjust text size for easier reading
  b. Dark Mode to save battery

Sign up for a free MyStar account to enjoy these features. However, users without an active The Star Digital Access membership will have limited access to articles.

Web: Within each article page, click the bookmark icon next to all the share icons below the headline (desktop) or on the top right (mobile web). To view your list of bookmarked stories, tap “Bookmark” on the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen or hover over the profile icon on the red navigation bar at the top of the page and click ‘Manage Bookmarks’

App: On the home screen, tap on the 'Bookmark' icon below the headline. If you are in story view you can tap the bookmark icon at the top of the screen. To find your bookmarks, tap ‘Bookmarks’ on the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen.

‘My Library’ allows you to permanently store your favourite bookmarked stories in a folder. ‘My Library’ can be found under ‘Bookmark’. Click on the ‘Bookmark’ on the navigation bar at the bottom and you will see ‘My Folder’. Select the bookmarked stories that you wish to keep and start creating your very own folders.

This feature allows you to download the selected story to read later when there is no internet connection. This is useful when you’re travelling or on the go.

This is an app-only feature. Tap the ‘Read Offline’ icon below the headline when scrolling and tap ‘Read Offline’ on the navigation bar at the bottom to view all downloaded stories.

Note: Downloaded stories are stored on your device storage. They will be deleted if you uninstall the app or when you clear the app’s data.

Web: Click ‘For You BETA’ at the bottom of the page then click ‘manage’. You can also hover on the ‘profile’ icon and click ‘Manage For You BETA’.

App: Tap ‘For You BETA’ on the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen then tap the ‘manage’ icon on the upper right to follow or unfollow topics and columnists.

If you have not followed any topics or columnists, we’ll recommend articles based on your past reading activity.

Sorry, you can’t add your own custom topics at this time. We’re constantly making updates based on the latest news, so please check back later.

No, you can follow as many as you wish.

You can customise the news menu at the top of The Star Malaysia app home screen to show sections that you prefer first. Tap ‘Profile’ on the navigation bar at the bottom then tap ‘Edit Menu’. There, you can rearrange the sequence of sections to show first except Home, Top Stories, Nation, and Opinion. You can also remove topics that don’t interest you.

Tap ‘Profile’ on the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen then tap ‘Settings’.

The Star Digital Access is a paid digital membership for full access to news and content on TheStar.com.my and app. This includes access to premium content and personalisation features. However, it excludes content hosted on other Star Media Group subscription-based services, e.g. dimsum e-tuition videos.

Kindly note that only Premium Plan’s membership is advertisement-free while Standard Plan’s membership will carry advertisements.

Click here for pricing info. New users can enjoy a 1-month free trial to The Star Digital Access Standard Plan before subscribing.

Subscribing after the free trial on web
When your free trial ends, you can subscribe to our Standard Plan available in Monthly, 6 Months or Annual or our Premium plan available in Monthly or Annual. Monthly and 6-Month plans are on an auto-renewal basis, while the Annual Plan has optional auto-renewal. We would recommend opting for auto-renewal to avoid interruptions to your membership.

Subscribing from the app

• After your free access, your account will automatically be converted and charged to the Standard or Premium Plan that ties to the free trial. The membership is non-contractual so you can cancel anytime.

Note: Prices above are exclusive of the relevant service tax.

Premium Plan has 1 more advantage and that is an advertisement-free, we want to make sure that you have a smooth reading experience without interruption however, branded content and ads from third-party services like Youtube will still be displayed.

Web: First, sign up for a free MyStar account, or log in before clicking on ‘Subscribe’. You can also click the ‘Subscriptions’ button on TheStar.com.my’s menu bar followed by The Star Digital Access. Select the membership plan you prefer and proceed to payment. Once payment is successful, you can start reading immediately.

iOS and Android App: First, sign up for a free MyStar account or log in and tap ‘Subscribe’. You will be redirected to an in-app purchase screen where you may have to log in with your Google Play ID or Apple ID.
New members: You will start with a 1-month Free Trial, after which your membership will auto-renew to a Standard or Premium monthly plan.
Existing members: Your membership will start with the Standard or Premium monthly plan with auto-renewal.

If you have cancelled your membership during the free trial and would like to resubscribe, tap ‘Subscribe’. You will be redirected to an in-app purchase screen where you’ll have to log in with your Apple or Google Play ID.

Huawei app: First, log in or sign up for a MyStar account, click ‘Subscribe’ and you will be directed to our subscription page in your mobile web browser.

You can read TheStar.com.my through a web browser or with The Star Malaysia app that you can download from the Play Store , App Store and Huawei AppGallery. You can stay logged in to six logins – four logins on web browsers and two logins on the app.

No, The Star newspaper and ePaper are separate from The Star Digital Access.

Yes, but first you’ll have to sign up for a free MyStar account. After that you can activate your 1-month free trial to The Star Digital Access or subscribe for the paid membership.

With the trial for new members, you can experience the membership free-of-charge for 30 days on the Standard Plan. This includes full access to news, content, and personalisation features on TheStar.com.my and app.

Web: First, sign up here for a free MyStar account and your trial will automatically be activated or click ‘Try for Free’ on the home page to start the trial.

App: First, sign up for a free MyStar account then tap 'Subscribe' to Standard or Premium Plan. You will be redirected to an in-app purchase screen where you’ll have to log in with your Google Play ID or Apple ID.

On the Huawei app, after signing up or log in, click ‘Try for Free’ and you will be redirected to your web browser for the next steps.

The 1-month trial is free of charge.

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Please log in with your username/email and change your password with a minimum of eight characters. It must contain at least one upper case letter, one number, and one special character except '+' and '='. Please use your new password for future logins.

We've made some enhancements to the TheStar.com.my and app to improve your reading experience and for web security. This includes migrating all MyStar accounts to a new system. Members who signed up before Feb 10, 2020, are required to update their password.

Click ‘Forgot Password?’ and you will be emailed a temporary password that you can log in with. Please proceed to change your password as soon as possible.

Please use the new password with the email you used for your MyStar account.

Please check both your Inbox and/or Spam folders. Click ‘Resend verification email’ and try again. If you have closed the page or have been logged out, please log in again to click ‘Resend verification email’.

If you are using a corporate email, kindly inform your tech department to whitelist @thestar.com.my.

Click ‘Resend verification email’ and try again. If you have closed the page or have been logged out, please log in again to click ‘Resend verification email’.

Click here to log in. If you have forgotten your password, click ‘Forgot Password?’ to reset it. If you are certain that you did not sign up with your email address before, kindly contact our Customer Service.

This is to ensure that the email address provided is valid so we can send you information relating to your membership.

We are leveraging on Amazon Cognito's advance security features that provide adaptive protection to ensure your login credentials are secure. Hence we require your permission to complete the registration.

Apple ID only available for The Star Malaysia IOS app. This is supported only on devices with iOS ver 13.6 and above. Option to Sign in with Apple is not available on The Star website and the Android app.

Subscriptions to The Star Digital Access are subject to 6% service tax. The prices listed on our various subscription pages will indicate if they are before or after service tax.

No, The Star Digital Access membership plan provides access to both TheStar.com.my and app.

Web: You may pay with a credit or debit card. FPX and e-wallet payment options are only available for the Annual Plan of the membership if you select the non-auto-renewal option.

App: You may pay with a credit or debit card through in-app purchase. Please refer to the in-app Terms of Sale for Android here or iOS here.

You can only subscribe to one membership per email address.

At the moment The Star Digital Access and Star Newsstand are on two separate platforms. They share the same MyStar login details but not the subscription information. Click here to view your membership information for The Star Digital Access.

Web: Click here or click on the profile icon at the top of the page.

App: Tap profile icon on the bottom right of the screen and tap 'Subscription Info'.

Web: Yes, you will receive a tax invoice via email after each successful payment. You can also click here to view your Transaction History and past tax invoices.

App: Yes, you can download your tax invoice from Transaction History. Tap the profile icon on the bottom right of the screen and tap 'Subscription Info'. Select 'Transaction History' from the drop-down menu.

Web: Click here or hover over the profile at the top of the page and click ‘Transaction History’.

App: Tap profile icon on the bottom right of the screen and tap Subscription Info. Select 'Transaction History'.

Web: Yes, it can. Click on the profile at the top of the page and go to ‘Manage Billing Info’ to input or change your company’s billing address.

App: Yes. Tap profile icon on the bottom right of the screen and tap Subscription Info. Select 'Manage Billing Info'.

Web: Click here or click on the profile icon at the top of the page and go to the ‘Subscription Info’ tab. Then click on ‘Manage payment info’ and you will be redirected to an iPay88 webpage where you will be able to change your credit card number.


App: For in-app purchase, kindly refer to your Play Store or App Store settings to change your credit card number.

Note: When you input a new credit card, you will be charged a token fee of RM1 to ensure the card is active. The RM1 will be refunded to you later.

Web: Click here or click on the profile icon at the top of the page and navigate to the ‘Subscription Info’ tab where you will be able to view your billing cycle and other membership information. We will start to charge for your renewal at least 7 days before the last day of your billing cycle. You will be reminded via an email.

App: Tap ‘profile’ icon on the bottom right of the screen and tap ‘Subscription info’ to view your subscription info.

A charge may be rejected for various reasons. For example, there could be an error in communication with your bank, or a shortage of funds in your account. Try changing your credit card or contacting your bank to understand why the charge is being rejected. If it’s a connection issue, you may try again later.

If you fail to make payment, your membership may be terminated when your subscription expires. You can subscribe again based on the membership plan(s) available at the time of resubscription.

Yes, we have the Annual Plan where auto-renewal is optional.

Yes, if you subscribe through a web browser, we will send you an email reminder on your next monthly charge. If you subscribe through in-app purchase, you will receive an email from iTunes or Google.

If you change from Standard to Premium Plan’s membership, you will get immediate premium access and the new charges will be billed in your next billing cycle.

If you change from Premium to Standard Plan’s membership, you will continue to have premium access until your the next billing cycle where the new charges will be billed and your access will be downgraded.

If you change from Standard to Premium Plan’s membership, you will get immediate premium access.
If you change from Premium to Standard Plan’s membership, you will continue to have premium access until your the next billing cycle.

Yes, it’s the same app.

Thanks for subscribing! Your membership should begin immediately after payment is successful.

Digital Access members can enjoy up to four logins on web browsers. If you receive the 'Login limit reached' message when trying to log in, you can click one of the two options:

• Continue here – where you will be logged out of your oldest session so that you can continue on the new browser.
• Manage logins – where you can view all the sessions that you’re logged in to so you can choose which to deactivate.

Please try the following solutions:

• Your Digital Access membership is tied to your MyStar account. Please ensure you are logged in with the correct MyStar account with an active Digital Access membership and try again.
• If you subscribed through in-app purchase, launch the app and navigate to Profile > The Star Digital Access Subscription > then click the Restore button on the top right of the subscription page.
• Please try to log out then log in again.
• Please ensure you subscribe to the Digital Access membership for TheStar.com.my and NOT The Star ePaper which is a different service to read the digital replica of our newspaper.

If you are still unable to read articles in full after trying the solutions above, kindly contact Customer Service at customerservice@thestar.com.my

Android: On the ‘Subscription info’ screen, tap ‘Subscribe Now’. Sign in with your Google Play ID and tap ‘Restore’ to sync your subscription on your device.
IOS: On the ‘Subscription info’ screen, tap ‘Subscribe Now’. Sign in and tap ‘Restore’ to sync your iOS subscription on your device.

Sorry, you can’t change the email address associated with your MyStar account while retaining your subscription(s), bookmarks, and other settings. Please contact us for further assistance.

Click ‘Forgot Password?’ at the ‘Log In’ page and follow the steps to reset your password.
If you signed up through Google or Facebook, your login details are linked to that account and we are unable to assist with the password reset.

Yes, you can enjoy six simultaneous logins – four logins on web browsers and two logins on the app. If you try to log in to more than four browsers, you will receive a ‘Login limit reached’ message which gives you the option to ‘Continue here’ (where you will be logged out of your oldest session so that you can continue on the new browser) or ‘Manage logins’.

Yes, when you subscribe to the Digital Access membership on any platform you get full access to TheStar.com.my and the app on all platforms. That includes web browsers on PC and mobile as well as our app on Android and iOS devices.

Except those who register with Apple ID and subscribe. This is supported only on devices with iOS ver 13.6 and above. Option to Sign in with Apple is not available on The Star website and the Android app.

• If you are on the monthly plan and you have more than 21 days before the next billing cycle, please try again later.
• If you are on a yearly plan but not on auto-renewal and it’s the last month of your membership, please subscribe when you have reached 21 days before your plan expires.
• If you have cancelled your subscription but have more than 21 days before your subscription ends, please select a plan to subscribe when you have reached 21 days before your plan expires.
• If you have used the change plan option for more than 3 times in less than a year, please cancel and resubscribe when you reach 21 days before your plan expires.
• If you are subscribing from app and want to upgrade from monthly plan to yearly plan, Please cancel your in-app subscription from App Store/Play Store and subscribe from web here.

If your situation is not mentioned above, please try to cancel your current membership and resubscribe when you reach 21 days before your plan expires.

Verify that payment is successful by checking the official receipt or the list of subscriptions from your App Store/Play Store settings.

If payment is successful, try the following approaches:
- Ensure you are using the same email address/login you used to subscribe
- Restore your transaction
- Log out and log in again using the same account
- Restart the app

If the issue persists, contact customer support via Profile > Feedback.

Android:
- Check your email for an official receipt from the Play Store
- Manage your subscriptions according to the guide here

IOS:
- Check your Apple ID email for an official receipt from the App Store
- Check the list of subscriptions in your phone settings by referring to the guide here

Android:
- On the app, navigate to Profile > Subscribe > click Restore button on the top right of the Subscribe page



iOS:
- On the app, navigate to Profile > Subscribe > click Restore button on the top right of the Subscribe page

Android: To request for a refund, refer to the guide here

IOS: To request for a refund from Apple, please contact Apple customer support. Refer to the guide here

• Yes, we may occasionally offer readers codes to extend their digital access for free or at a discounted rate.
• The Digital Access membership may be sold on other channels that are not on TheStar.com.my or the app, e.g. on StarNewsstand. Memberships purchased on such channels will be fulfilled via codes that members must activate.

Discount code

• Please refer to the instructions provided together with the code.
• Select a package > enter the code at check-out page > proceed to payment.
• Note: make sure the price and package is correct before you make a payment.

Activation Code for Corporate/Newsstand of Free Subscription's Code

• Please click here then select 'I have a Free/Corporate/ Newsstand code' to activate the subscription. You may go to Manage Subscription to check for your subscription status.

Yes. However, you must first cancel the auto-renewal feature before redeeming the code.

There may be a few reasons why the code is invalid.

• Please check the code's terms and conditions. Please note that some codes are one-time use only and may have already been redeemed.
• Please check if your code is a discount code or Corporate/Newsstand for paid or free subscription code. Then refer to the question 'I have a code, how do I redeem it?'.
• Please check if you have already successfully redeemed the code under 'Manage Subscription'.
• If you currently have an active membership on auto-renewal, please cancel the auto-renewal feature before redeeming the code.
• If your active membership’s expiry date is more than 1 month from now, you will not be able to use any code.

Yes, you can cancel your Digital Access membership at any time. When you cancel your paid membership, you will continue to have access for the remainder of the current billing period and will not be charged for your next billing cycle.

However, you cannot cancel your free MyStar account at this time.

Web: Click here and click manage payment info to cancel your auto-renewal.

App: If you subscribed through in-app purchase, please cancel your membership through your Play Store or App Store settings. Please refer to the guides here for the Android and here for iOS.

Note: Huawei app: Please cancel from TheStar.com.my

Yes, you can.
Subscribe from web:
Click here. Alternatively, click on the profile icon at the top of the page and go to the ‘Manage subscription’ tab. Then click on ‘change plan’ and select the new plan.

• Upgrade from Standard to Premium - upgrade will be immediate and you will be billed at the Premium Plan’s rate in your next billing cycle.
• Downgrade from Premium to Standard - you will still have premium access until the downgrade in the next billing cycle.
• Special case (valid from 1 July until 31st August 2021) - Annual Standard plan can upgrade to Annual Premium plan immediately by topping up RM5 per remaining month.

Note: upgrade/downgrade plan cannot be done if your current plan has more than 21 days before expiry except those on special cases. There will be cases when upgrade/downgrade cannot be done where you are required to cancel the plan and resubscribe.

Subscribe from Android and IOS:
On the app, please tap on the profile icon at the bottom and tap subscription history or The Star Digital Access Subscription. Tap change plan and select the new plan. If you cannot change the plan, please try to cancel your current membership and resubscribe when you reach 21 days before your plan expires.

• Upgrade from Standard to Premium - upgrade will be immediately. For Google, you will be billed at the premium plan’s rate in your next billing cycle and for IOS, you will be refunded partially and you will be billed at the Premium Plan’s rate immediately.
• Downgrade from Premium to Standard - you will still have premium access until the downgrade in the next billing cycle.

Sorry, we do not provide refunds.

Our membership comes with Startreat rewards. When we get some good deals like special discounts or VIP passes, we will share with our members by emailing the rewards to our paid members. Make sure you did not opt-out from receiving news and/or promotions and/or communication from us otherwise you will miss it. Click here for more info about Startreats.

Click here to find out more about our latest Membership plan.