Set up Family Sharing

Family Sharing lets up to six members of your family share their iTunes Store, App Store, and iBooks Store purchases, a family calendar, and family photos, all without sharing accounts.

One adult—the family organizer—sets up Family Sharing, invites up to five people to join the family group, and agrees to pay for any iTunes Store, App Store, and iBooks Store purchases those family members initiate while part of the family group. Each family member needs to have an Apple ID he or she uses for iCloud. For a child too young to create his or her own Apple ID, the family organizer can create one on the child’s behalf. For more information, see What is Family Sharing?.

If you already have a family group, see Manage the family you organized or Join a family.

Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click iCloud.
Open iCloud preferences for me
Click Set Up Family, then follow the onscreen instructions.
Click the Add button , then do one of the following.
- Add someone who has an account: Enter the name or email address of the person you want to join the family, click Continue, then follow the onscreen instructions. The person you add must already have an Apple ID he or she uses for iCloud.
  If the person you’re adding is nearby, the person can simply enter the Apple ID and password he or she uses for iCloud. Otherwise, you can email the person an invitation to join.
- Create an Apple ID for a child: Select “Create an Apple ID for a child who doesn’t have an account,” click Continue, then follow the onscreen instructions.
  To comply with child online privacy protection laws, you’ll use the CVV or security code from a valid credit card as part of providing your parental consent. If you like, you can change to a different payment method after creating the account.
To add another member, repeat the previous step.

Purchases made by new family members are available to other family members after the new members confirm the Apple IDs they use to share iTunes Store, App Store, and iBooks Store purchases. Each person can do this in iCloud preferences on his or her Mac or in Settings > iCloud on his or her iOS device. For more information, see Share purchases with your family.