How to share apps and purchases with your family
One adult in the family — the family organizer — pays for everyone's purchases after purchase sharing is set up. You can share apps, music, books, and more.
Turn on purchase sharing using your iPhone or iPad
Turn on purchase sharing using your Mac
Turn off purchase sharing and stop sharing a payment method
Which payment method is charged for purchases that family members make?
If you want to approve a child's purchases
What is purchase sharing?
When the family organizer turns on purchase sharing, everyone in your family gets access to apps, music, movies, TV shows, and books that family members buy. The family organizer is billed for family members' purchases. Family members can find shared content on the Purchased page in the App Store, iTunes Store, Apple Books, or Apple TV app. Learn what kinds of content you can and can't share.
Turn on purchase sharing using your iPhone or iPad
If you haven't set up Family Sharing yet, set up Family Sharing.
Open the Settings app.
Tap Family. If you don't see Family, tap your name, then tap Family Sharing.
Tap Purchase Sharing.
Tap Continue and follow the onscreen instructions.
To confirm which payment method will be billed, tap Purchase Sharing again and check the Shared Payment Method information. This will be the family organizer's default payment method.
Turn on purchase sharing using your Mac
In macOS Ventura or later:
If you haven't set up Family Sharing yet, set up Family Sharing.
Choose Apple menu > System Settings, then click Family.
Click Purchase Sharing.
Click your name, then turn on Share My Purchases.
To confirm which payment method will be billed, check under Shared Payment Methods. This will be the family organizer's default payment method.
In earlier versions of macOS:
If you haven't set up Family Sharing yet, set up Family Sharing.
On your Mac, choose Apple menu > System Preferences.
Click Family Sharing.
Click Purchase Sharing in the sidebar.
Click Set Up Purchase Sharing and follow the onscreen instructions.
To confirm which payment method will be billed, check the Shared Payment Method information. This will be the family organizer's default payment method.
Turn off purchase sharing and stop sharing a payment method
If you're the family organizer and you want family members to pay for purchases themselves, turn off purchase sharing:
Go to your Purchase Sharing settings in Settings on your iPhone or iPad or in System Settings on your Mac.
Turn off purchase sharing:
On your iPhone or iPad, tap Stop Purchase Sharing.
On your Mac, click Turn Off, then click Stop Purchase Sharing.
When purchase sharing is turned off, you stop sharing your purchases and lose access to the purchases made by your other family members. However, you can continue to share subscriptions like Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade, but everyone must use their own payment method for purchases.
Learn what to do if you want to leave or disband your family sharing group
Which payment method is charged for purchases that family members make?
When purchase sharing is turned on, everyone's purchases bill to the family organizer's payment method.* The family organizer can:
Update their payment method or add a new one if there's an issue.
Check their purchase history to see purchases made by family members.
Learn which payment methods are available in your region.
When a family member first makes a purchase on their device, the family organizer might need to verify the payment method by entering the CVV.
* If you're in a Family Sharing group, purchases that you make are charged to your personal Apple Account balance. If you don't have enough Apple Account balance to pay for the purchase, the remainder is charged to the family organizer if purchase sharing is turned on.
If you want to approve a child's purchases
If you want to see and approve what kids download, set up Ask to Buy. When a child asks to buy apps, movies, or other content, the family organizer receives a notification and can approve or decline the request right from their device.
Learn how to turn on Ask to Buy
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