Use Instant Hotspot, Auto-Join Hotspot, or Family Sharing to connect to your Personal Hotspot
You and members of your family group can connect to the Personal Hotspot of your iPhone or iPad without needing to enter the password.
What you need
To provide the Personal Hotspot, you need an iPhone or iPad (Wi-Fi + Cellular) with an activated carrier plan that includes Personal Hotspot service.
To connect to your Personal Hotspot, you or your family group need an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Vision Pro that meets the system requirements for Instant Hotspot.
All devices must have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned on and be signed in with the same Apple Account or part of the same family group.
How to connect to your Personal Hotspot
Join your Personal Hotspot manually using the Instant Hotspot feature, or automatically using the Auto-Join Hotspot feature.
Connect manually using Instant Hotspot
With the Instant Hotspot feature, you can join your Personal Hotspot like you would any other Wi-Fi network, but you aren't asked to provide your hotspot’s Wi-Fi password, and the device providing your hotspot doesn’t need to have Personal Hotspot turned on.
On Mac, click Wi-Fi
in the menu bar or Control Center
, then choose the name of the iPhone or iPad providing your Personal Hotspot
.On iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, or Apple Vision Pro, go to Settings > Wi-Fi, then tap the name of the iPhone or iPad providing your Personal Hotspot
.
When connected to a Personal Hotspot, the Wi-Fi status icon on your device changes to the Personal Hotspot icon.
Connect automatically using Auto-Join Hotspot
With the Auto-Join Hotspot feature, when no Wi-Fi network is available and your device is near the device providing the Personal Hotspot, your device can automatically attempt to join that hotspot or ask you if you want to join it.
On Mac, click Wi-Fi
in the menu bar or Control Center, then choose Wi-Fi Settings. Scroll down on the right to see "Ask to join hotspots," then choose Ask to Join or Automatic from the menu. (The Automatic setting is available in macOS Tahoe 26 or later). On iPhone, iPad, or Apple Vision Pro, go to Settings > Wi-Fi > Auto-Join Hotspot, then tap Ask to Join or Automatic.
On Apple Watch, go to Settings > Wi-Fi. Scroll down to Auto Hotspot Settings, then tap Ask to Join or Automatic.
When connected to a Personal Hotspot, the Wi-Fi status icon on your device changes to the Personal Hotspot icon.
Allow your family to connect to your Personal Hotspot
With Family Sharing, your family can also join your Personal Hotspot without needing to enter the password.
On your iPhone or iPad providing the Personal Hotspot, go to Settings > Personal Hotspot > Family Sharing.
Turn on Family Sharing. If you don't see this option, set up Family Sharing.
Tap the name of a family member, then select a setting:
Automatic: Allow their device to automatically join your Personal Hotspot when needed.
Ask for Approval: Whenever their device attempts to join your Personal Hotspot, you’re prompted on your device to allow it.
If Personal Hotspot isn’t working
If Personal Hotspot isn't working on your iPhone or iPad
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