Cancel or Speed up MetaMask Transactions — Resend & Replace

Quick summary: when this helps

If a MetaMask (software wallet) transaction is stuck in "pending" because gas fees were too low, you can usually either speed it up or cancel it by replacing the transaction with a new one that uses the same nonce and a higher gas fee. What I've found in daily use: the extension and mobile app both offer Speed Up / Cancel buttons for most pending transactions. (And if those buttons aren't there, a manual replace using a custom nonce still works.)

This guide explains how the replacement mechanism works, shows UI steps for Chrome extension and mobile, and gives an advanced fallback you can replicate.

I tested these steps on the MetaMask extension (desktop) and the Android app using small amounts on mainnet and a testnet—sending tiny native-token transfers so I could watch nonces, mempool status, and replaced tx hashes in a block explorer. You can replicate my tests with a few cents of ETH (or testnet ETH) and by checking your account nonce before and after each attempt.

How pending transactions work (nonce & EIP-1559)

Short version: every account has a nonce (sequence number). The network requires transactions from your account to be processed in nonce order. So if tx #5 is stuck in the mempool, tx #6 waits behind it. EIP-1559 changed how fees are set: there are now a maxFeePerGas (cap) and a maxPriorityFeePerGas (tip). To replace a pending transaction you must send a new transaction with the same nonce and a higher effective gas (miners select the higher-paying tx).

Long sentence to illustrate behavior: if you send a contract interaction or token swap with a low fee and then immediately try to submit another different transaction, the second one won't be accepted until the pending one is mined or replaced, which is why replacing by nonce is the standard fix and why speed-up/cancel tools exist.

Quick UI methods: Speed Up and Cancel (extension + mobile)

How to speed up MetaMask transaction (Chrome extension)

Open the MetaMask extension.
Go to Activity and find the pending transaction.
Click the tx to open details, then choose "Speed Up".
Pick a higher gas setting or choose "Advanced" to edit the priority fee (tip).
Confirm the new transaction.

How to speed up transaction MetaMask Chrome when you want to change priority fee:

On the confirmation screen click "Edit" (or "Advanced"). Enter a larger Max priority fee (the tip) and a larger Max fee. Confirm.

Mobile steps are similar: open the app, tap Activity → pending tx → Speed Up (or Edit gas) → confirm. I’ve used the Speed Up UI on Android to get a tx into the next block; it worked reliably when I bumped priority fee enough.

And here's how to cancel a pending tx quickly: in Activity open the pending transaction and choose "Cancel". MetaMask submits a zero-value transaction to your own address (same nonce) with higher gas, attempting to replace the original. But this button appears only while the original tx is still pending.

Advanced: manual replace using a custom nonce

When the UI buttons are missing you can still replace transactions manually. This is the more technical fallback and I reproduce it when testing.

Steps (high level):

Enable "Customize transaction nonce" in Settings → Advanced.
Create a new transaction sending 0 ETH to your own address.
Set the nonce to exactly the pending transaction's nonce.
Increase the priority fee / max fee (set them higher than the pending tx).
Send and wait for the replacement to be mined.

Note: the replacement will only succeed if miners accept the higher-fee tx first. Use a block explorer to confirm the old tx was replaced (you'll see a "replaced by" or the pending tx disappear).

How to cancel contract interaction MetaMask (special cases)

Contract interactions (token swaps, approvals, contract calls) are just transactions from an account. If they are still pending, the same replace-by-fee technique works: replace with same nonce. But if the contract call already mined, you can't cancel it. What I've found: contract interactions that create multiple internal actions might already have partially executed on-chain (so replacement won't undo what already happened).

If the pending action is an "approve" you can cancel it while pending. And if it mined, you can later revoke allowances (see token approvals and revoke).

Checklist: when a replacement will succeed or fail

Pending in mempool? Good chance to replace.
Already mined? Can't cancel.
Replacement fee must be higher than the original (effective fee under EIP-1559).
Nonce must match.
If you have multiple pending txs, replace the oldest blocking nonce first.

Table: method comparison (speed, risk, when to use)

Method	Speed	Risk	When to use
UI Speed Up	Fast	Low	Most common pending txs (extension/mobile)
UI Cancel	Fast	Low	Cancel token approvals or mistaken sends while pending
Manual replace (custom nonce)	Medium	Medium	When UI buttons are unavailable or for advanced control
Wait it out	Slow	None	Low-fee txs on quiet networks or non-urgent actions

Security notes and related guides

Never share your seed phrase or private keys to "fix" a transaction. MetaMask actions only require signing a transaction; no service should ask for your seed phrase. If a dApp asks you to resend or sign anything unrelated to the transaction, pause (and check connect MetaMask to dApps).

If you routinely sign many approvals, review allowances and revoke dangerous ones via our token approvals and revoke guide. For large balances use a hardware device and see integrate hardware ledger trezor.

Also read our explainer on gas fees and EIP-1559 to understand what you’re changing when you edit priority and max fees.

Step-by-step HOW TOs (copyable tests)

How to cancel MetaMask transaction (desktop quick test you can replicate):

Send 0.001 ETH from your account on testnet to another address with a very low priority fee.
Immediately open Activity → pending tx → Cancel.
If Cancel isn't visible, enable nonce customization and submit 0 ETH to yourself with the same nonce and higher fees.
Use a block explorer to confirm the replacement.

How to speed up MetaMask transaction (Chrome extension):

Send a token swap on mainnet with default gas.
If pending longer than expected, open the tx and hit Speed Up.
In Advanced, bump the priority fee and confirm.
Confirm the replacement mined first.

These steps mirror the tests I ran; they work consistently when you bump fees enough to outbid the pending tx.

FAQ

Q: Is it safe to keep crypto in a hot wallet?
A: Hot wallets are convenient for daily DeFi and swaps. They trade off convenience for security. For large holdings I believe you should use a hardware wallet; for daily swaps a hot wallet is practical (but follow daily-security-practices). See backup and recovery seed phrase.

Q: How do I revoke token approvals?
A: Use an approvals dashboard or follow token approvals and revoke to find and revoke unlimited allowances.

Q: What happens if I lose my phone?
A: With your seed phrase you can restore a wallet on another device. Don’t store the seed phrase in cloud notes; follow our recovery steps in recover lost wallets.

Q: Why can't I cancel a transaction?
A: If the tx already mined or your replacement didn’t use a higher effective fee, cancellation will fail. Check nonce and fees.

Wrap up and next steps

If a transaction is stuck, start with the built-in Speed Up / Cancel UI (extension or mobile). But if those options are missing, a manual replace by nonce will usually work (I tested this across mainnet and testnet). And remember: replacing uses higher fees, so the faster fix costs more gas.

Want to learn more? Read our deeper guides on gas fees and EIP-1559, token approvals and revoke, or the basics in create MetaMask wallet.

If you try these steps and still see trouble, check our troubleshooting page and feel free to rerun the manual nonce test on a testnet before risking mainnet funds.

Good luck — and be careful with approvals and nonce edits. But if you follow the steps above you should be able to cancel or speed up most stuck transactions.