Start your staking journey or explore more information about staking on Polkadot's Home Page. Discover this new Staking Dashboard that makes staking much easier and check our extensive article list in the Overview article to help you get started.

In this article, we explain how to unbond staked tokens using the Staking Dashboard. You can decide to stop being a nominator at any time by unbonding. You may need to connect your extension account first.


ℹ️ GOOD TO KNOW

Please note that there is an unbonding period, currently 28 days on Polkadot and 7 days on Kusama.


ℹ️ GOOD TO KNOW

"Fast-unstake" allows to circumvent the unbonding period if the staker was not exposed to any active validator for the last unbonding period (28 days in Polkadot, 7 days in Kusama). Check other required conditions in the support article "Can I Transfer DOT Without Unbonding and Waiting 28 days?"


In this example, we're using the Westend testnet, but the process is the same for Polkadot and Kusama.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

How to stop nominating and unbond all your funds


1. Navigate to your nominations on the "Nominate" tab, and click the "Unstake" button.


ℹ️ GOOD TO KNOW

If you're only unbonding some of your staked tokens and intend to keep staking, there is no need to stop nominating. In this case, skip to the next section.



2.  Click "Submit" and sign the batch call from your extension or wallet.


ℹ️ INFO

If you change your mind once the unbonding period has be initiated, you can rebond your funds following this guide: "Staking Dashboard: How to Rebond Your Tokens"


3. After the unbonding period has concluded (28 days in Polkadot or 7 days in Kusama), click any of the unlocked padlocks icons to fully withdraw the unbonded tokens.


4. Click "Withdraw Unlocked", submit, and sign the transaction to complete the process.


Congratulations, The tokens should then show up again in your transferable balance!

How to unbond part of your funds


The previous section described how to stop nominating and unbond all your funds. However, you always have the option to unbond only some of them and keep nominating with the rest. Keep reading to learn how.


ℹ️ GOOD TO KNOW

Always ensure that your bonded funds remain over the minimum bond required for nomination (250 DOT on Polkadot, 0.1 KSM on Kusama) to avoid encountering the message "A minimum bond of 250 DOT is required when actively nominating."


1. Go to the "Nominate" tab and click on the minus ("-") icon below "Bonded Funds".


2. Enter the amount of funds you'd like to unbond (keep in mind that the remaining balance needs to be over the minimum required to nominate for nomination) and click "Submit." Sign the transaction, and that's it, you unbonded only parts of your staking balance!

If you are more of a visual learner, check the guide below. It covers all things you can do after you start staking. You can skip to 1:54 to learn about unbonding: