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, films, TV programmes, 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 teenager, or set them up with an Apple Watch.
Find out more about what you can do with Family Sharing
Start a family group
One adult in the family – the family organiser – can set up Family Sharing for the group from their iPhone, iPad or Mac. If purchase sharing is turned on, the family organiser will pay 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 has 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 receive an invitation by email or in a text message. Then you can respond directly 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 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 may be asked to confirm your account information and to opt in to any features or services your family have 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 may be asked to confirm your account information and to opt in to any features or services your family have set up.
If you can't accept the invitation
If you can't accept the invitation, check if someone else has 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.
Not all content is eligible to be shared.
Age varies by country or region.
Accepted forms of payment vary by country or region.
