While both canceled and cancelled are acceptable for the past tense of cancel, the version with one L is more common in American English, while the version with two L's is more common in British English.

The frequency of "canceled" versus "cancelled" depends entirely on your geographic location and the style guide you follow, though globally, "cancelled" (with two Ls) remains more common in traditional publishing. "Canceled" (one L) is the standard and most common spelling in American English, following a trend popularized by Noah Webster to simplify English by removing "unnecessary" letters. Conversely, "Cancelled" is the preferred and nearly universal spelling in British English, as well as in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Despite the difference in the past tense, the noun "cancellation" is always spelled with two Ls in both American and British English. In 2026, data from digital search and writing tools like Grammarly shows that "canceled" has become the dominant spelling in North American news media and business correspondence, while "cancelled" maintains its stronghold across the Commonwealth. For a "pro" tip: if you are writing for a global audience, "cancelled" is generally seen as the more formal, "international" standard, whereas "canceled" is a distinct marker of American professional writing.