Set up Family Sharing

You can start a new family group and invite people to join, or you can join someone else's family group.

Family Sharing makes it easy for up to six family members to share music, films, TV shows, apps, books, subscriptions including iCloud+ and more, all without sharing an Apple ID.1 You can set up an Apple ID for kids, set permissions remotely with Screen Time and approve spending and downloads from a parent's device with Ask to Buy.2 You can also set up Apple Cash for a child or teenager, or set them up with an Apple Watch. Find out more about what you can do with Family Sharing.

Start a family group

One adult in the family — the family organiser — can set up Family Sharing for the group from their iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Mac. If purchase sharing is turned on, the family organiser will pay for family members' purchases and must have a valid payment method on file. Check which payment methods are available in your country or region.3

On your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Tap your name.
    iPhone showing Family Sharing in Settings.
  3. Tap Family Sharing, then tap Set Up Your Family.
  4. Follow the onscreen instructions to set up your family and invite your family members.

On your Mac

  1. Choose Apple menu  > System Preferences, then click Family Sharing.
    Mac showing Family Sharing in System Preferences.
  2. Confirm the Apple ID that you want to use for Family Sharing and make sure that Share My Purchases is selected.
  3. Follow the onscreen instructions.

If you're using macOS Mojave or earlier:

  1. Choose Apple menu  > System Preferences, then click iCloud.
  2. Confirm the Apple ID that you want to use for Family Sharing and make sure that Share My Purchases is selected.
  3. Follow the onscreen instructions.

Invite people to join your family

You can be a part of only one family at a time.

On your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Tap your name, then tap Family Sharing.
  3. Tap Add Member.
  4. If your child doesn't have an Apple ID, tap Create an Account for a Child. But if your child already has an Apple ID, tap Invite People. They can enter their Apple ID password on your device to accept the invitation.
  5. Follow the onscreen instructions.

On your Mac

  1. Choose Apple menu  > System Preferences.
  2. Click Family Sharing.
  3. Click Add Family Member, then follow the onscreen instructions.

If you're using macOS Mojave or earlier:

  1. Choose Apple menu  > System Preferences, then click iCloud.
  2. Click Manage Family.
  3. Click the add family member button (+), then follow the onscreen instructions.

If you have multiple Apple IDs, you can invite each of your accounts to the group so you can share purchases from your other Apple IDs with your family.

See if your family member has accepted the invitation

After you've sent the invitation, you can check its status.

On your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Tap your name.
  3. Tap Family Sharing.
  4. To see the status of the invitation, select that person's name. 
  5. If you need to resend the invitation, select Resend Invitation.

On your Mac

  1. Choose Apple menu  > System Preferences, then click Family Sharing. Or if you're using macOS Mojave or earlier, choose Apple menu  > System Preferences > iCloud, then click Manage Family.
  2. To see the status of the invitation, select that person's name. 
  3. If you need to resend the invitation, select Resend Invitation.

Join a family group

Accept or decline an invitation to join a family directly from your device. You'll receive an invitation by email or in a text message. Then you can respond directly from the invitation. If you miss the email or text invitation, respond from your device Settings or System Preferences.

On your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Tap your name.
  3. Tap Invitations.

To accept an invitation, follow the onscreen instructions. When you join a family, you may be asked to confirm your account information and to opt in to any features or services your family have set up.

On your Mac

Choose Apple menu  > System Preferences, then click Family Sharing. If you're using macOS Mojave or earlier, choose Apple menu  > System Preferences > iCloud, then click Manage Family.

To accept an invitation, follow the onscreen instructions. When you join a family, you may be asked to confirm your account information and to opt in to any features or services your family have set up.

If you can't accept the invitation

If you can't accept the invitation, check if someone else has joined a family with your Apple ID. Remember, you can only join one family at a time, and you can only switch to a different family group once per year.

  1. Not all content is eligible to be shared.
  2. Age varies by country or region.
  3. Accepted forms of payment vary by country or region.

 

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