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, movies, TV shows, apps, books, subscriptions including iCloud+, and more, all without sharing an Apple Account.1 You can set up an Apple Account 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 teen, or set them up with an Apple Watch.
Learn more about what you can do with Family Sharing
Start a family group
One adult in the family — the family organizer — can set up Family Sharing for the group from their iPhone, iPad, or Mac. If purchase sharing is turned on, the family organizer pays for family members' purchases and must have a valid payment method on file.3
On your iPhone or iPad
Open the Settings app, then tap your name.
Tap Family (or Family Sharing), then tap Set Up Your Family.
Follow the onscreen instructions to set up your family and invite your family members.
On your Mac with macOS Ventura or later
Choose Apple menu > System Settings. Click your name, then click Family (or Family Sharing).
Click Set Up Family.
Follow the onscreen instructions to set up your family and invite your family members.
Invite people to join your family
If you choose to invite people later or want to add another member to your family, you can send an invitation via Messages, email, or in person.
If you have multiple Apple Accounts, you can invite each of your accounts to the group, so you can share purchases from your other Apple Accounts with your family.
On your iPhone or iPad with iOS 16 or later
Open the Settings app, then tap Family.
Tap the Add Member button
.
If your child doesn't have an Apple Account, tap Create an Account for a Child. But if your child already has an Apple Account, tap Invite People. They can enter their password used for their Apple Account on your device to accept the invitation.
Follow the onscreen instructions to set up parental controls, location sharing, and more.
On your Mac with macOS Ventura or later
Choose Apple menu > System Settings.
Click Family.
Click Add Member, then follow the onscreen instructions.
Check if your family member accepted the invitation
After you send the invitation, you can check the status.
On your iPhone or iPad
Open the Settings app, then tap Family.
To check the status of the invitation, tap the person's name.
If you need to resend the invitation, select Resend Invitation.
On your Mac with macOS Ventura or later
Choose Apple menu > 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 group
Accept or decline an invitation to join a family directly from your device. You'll get an invitation by email or in a text message. Then you can respond right from the invitation. If you miss the email or text invitation, use the steps below to respond from your device. You can be a part of only one family at a time.
On your iPhone or iPad
Open the Settings app, then tap your name.
Tap Invitations.
To accept an invitation, follow the onscreen instructions. When you join a family, you might be asked to confirm your account information and to opt in to any features or services your family set up.
On your Mac with macOS Ventura or later
Choose Apple menu > System Settings.
Click Family.
To accept an invitation, follow the onscreen instructions. When you join a family, you might be asked to confirm your account information and to opt in to any features or services your family set up.
If you can't accept the invitation
If you can't accept the invitation, check if someone else joined a family with your Apple Account. Remember, you can only join one family at a time, and you can only switch to a different family group once per year.
Connect a child's device to your family
If you set up a new iPhone or iPad and chose a child or teen age range, you can connect that device to a family group later. Age-appropriate default settings will still automatically be enabled on the device, allowing the child to immediately use the device. If you want your child to be able to download apps, use shared iCloud storage, have modified parental controls, or do more things that require an Apple Account, you need to connect their device to your family group.
Before you can connect a device, make sure you have family sharing set up.
On the child's iPhone or iPad
Open the Settings app, then tap Connect to Family.
Follow the onscreen instructions to connect that device to a family group.
As part of this process, you'll need to create an Apple Account for your child.
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Not all content is eligible to be shared.
Age varies by country or region.
Accepted forms of payment vary by country or region.
