How to set up Family Sharing on your Mac
With Family Sharing, you and up to five family members can share access to Apple services such as iCloud+, Apple Music, Apple TV and more – without sharing an Apple Account. You can even help locate each other’s missing devices, share your location and manage a child's device with Screen Time and parental controls.
Set up a Family Sharing group
The family organiser, which must be an adult, can set up a Family Sharing group from their device. When you set up a Family Sharing group, you may be asked to confirm that you’re an adult.
Set up Family Sharing on your device
Or, follow these steps on your Mac.
Choose Apple menu , then click System Settings.
Click your name, then click Family.
Click Set Up.
Follow the onscreen instructions to set up your Family Sharing group and invite family members to join.
Invite people to join your Family Sharing group
If you choose to invite people later or want to add another member to your Family Sharing group, you can send an invitation via Messages or email.
If you have multiple Apple Accounts, you can invite each of your accounts to the Family Sharing group, so you can share purchases from your other Apple Accounts with your family.
Choose Apple menu , then click System Settings.
Click Family.
Click Add Member, then follow the onscreen instructions.
Check if your family member has accepted the invitation
Choose Apple menu , click System Settings, then click Family.
To check the status of the invitation, click the person's name.
If you need to resend the invitation, select Resend Invitation.
Join a Family Sharing group
You'll get an invitation to join a Family Sharing group by email or in a text message, and you can respond right from the invitation. If you miss the email or text invitation, follow the steps below to respond from your device. You can only be a part of one Family Sharing group at a time.
Choose Apple menu , then click System Settings.
Click Family.
To accept an invitation, follow the onscreen instructions. When you join a Family Sharing group, you may be asked to confirm your Apple Account information and to opt in to any features or services your Family Sharing group has set up.
If you can't accept the invitation
If you can’t accept the invitation, check if someone else joined a Family Sharing group with your Apple Account. Remember, you can only join one Family Sharing group at a time, and you can only switch to a different Family Sharing group once per year.
Set a member in your Family Sharing group as a parent/guardian
You can set any adult member in your Family Sharing group as a parent/guardian. This allows them to help you make certain changes to the Family Sharing group, like create a Child Account, manage parental controls, and respond to Ask to Buy and Ask to Browse requests.
Choose Apple menu , then click System Settings.
Click Family.
Click the member’s name, then click Parent/Guardian.
Turn on Set as Parent/Guardian.
Learn how to set up Family Sharing on an iPhone or iPad
