OS X Yosemite: Join a family

Join a family

You can join a family when the organizer adds you, or you can join later by accepting an invitation.

If you’re the family organizer, you can invite people to join when you add them to the family; see Manage the family you organized. If you don’t have a family group yet, see Set up Family Sharing.

Join on the organizer’s Mac

If you’re nearby when the family organizer adds you to the family, you can join the family immediately by entering your Apple ID and password on the organizer’s Mac or iOS device.

Before you can share family purchases, you must confirm the Apple ID you use for the iTunes Store, App Store, and iBooks Store purchases that you want to share with your family.

  1. On the organizer’s Mac or iOS 8 device, enter the Apple ID and password you use for iCloud.

  2. On your Mac, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click iCloud, and make sure you’re signed in to iCloud.

  3. Click Manage Family, click your name on the left, click Options on the right, then follow the onscreen instructions.

Accept or decline an invitation on your Mac

  1. Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click iCloud.

  2. Click Manage Family, then do either of the following:

    • Join the family: Click Accept, then follow the onscreen instructions.

    • Don’t join the family: Click Decline.

    If you have an email invitation sent by the family organizer, you can click View Invitation in the email, then follow the onscreen instructions.

After you join, family members receive an email informing them that they are now sharing with you.

Last Modified: Sep 23, 2015
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