Key Takeaways
- Family Sharing lets one organizer manage up to six family members, including kids on their own child Apple Accounts.
- Children get age-appropriate accounts with Ask to Buy, so every purchase or free download has to clear you first.
- Screen Time, content restrictions, and location sharing are all managed remotely, from the parent's device.
- The family can share purchases, subscriptions, iCloud+ storage, and photos, and nobody hands over a login to do it.
- You set it up once in Settings > [your name] > Family, and you can add, remove, or adjust members whenever you need to.
Your child wants an iPad, or one specific app, or a device of their own, and you want them to have it without handing over your Apple Account, your credit card, or the whole App Store with no guardrails. This is the exact situation Apple Family Sharing was built for: one adult runs the family, each kid gets their own age-appropriate Apple Account, and you approve what they buy and download right from your own phone. The whole thing takes about 15 minutes, using tools that are already on your device — no extra apps to install. This guide walks you through the entire child setup, step by step, in the order Apple expects you to do it.
What is Apple Family Sharing (and how does it work for kids)?
Apple Family Sharing is a feature that lets one adult — the family organizer — invite or create up to six family members. Each person keeps their own Apple Account and their own private data, while sharing purchases, subscriptions, and more. Everyone stays on a separate login, so your child's account is genuinely their own. It isn't a copy of yours.
According to Apple Support, a family group can share App Store purchases, Apple subscriptions, iCloud+ storage, a shared photo album, and location — all without anyone handing over a password. Each person's messages, mail, and personal files stay private to their own account.
For kids specifically, Apple Family Sharing sets a child up with a child Apple Account that has age-based protections, Ask to Buy for purchase approval, and Screen Time limits you control remotely. As the organizer, you can approve or decline purchases and set content and time limits — but you cannot read the contents of your child's Messages. This is the part the marketing pages tend to skip, and it's worth knowing before you start: Family Sharing gives you control over access and spending, not surveillance over private conversations.
If you want the wider picture of what iOS offers beyond Family Sharing, our iPhone parental controls hub covers the full toolkit. Family Sharing is really the account layer underneath — it's what makes most of those controls possible for a child in the first place.
What you'll need before you start
Before you set up Family Sharing for your kids, gather a few things so you can finish in one sitting. Having each item ready is genuinely the difference between a 15-minute setup and a frustrating stop-start where you're hunting for a birthday halfway through.
- The organizer's Apple Account signed in on your iPhone or iPad (this adult becomes the family organizer).
- A payment method on file — it's required so that Ask to Buy approvals can actually go through.
- Each child's real date of birth, which is what drives the age-based content defaults on their account.
- A Wi-Fi connection and about 15 minutes.
Two limits shape how you plan this. A Family Sharing group holds up to six members, and only one adult can be the organizer. And in the United States, a child under 13 has to be on a child Apple Account inside a family. You can't just spin up a standard Apple ID for a young child — the account has to live within your family group.
Step 1 — Set up Family Sharing (create your family group)
To create your family, open Settings, tap your name at the top, then tap Family and choose Set Up Family Sharing. On older versions of iOS the path reads Settings > [your name] > Family Sharing instead, but the flow itself is the same.
During setup, Apple asks what you want the family to share: purchases, subscriptions, iCloud+ storage, and location. You also confirm the payment method the family will use — that becomes the shared card sitting behind everyone's purchases. Per Apple's setup guide, the person who starts the group automatically becomes the family organizer.
You don't have to lock in every sharing choice right now. Each category can be toggled later from the same Family screen, so if you'd rather share purchases but not location, or add subscriptions somewhere down the line, that's fine. Once your family group exists, you're ready to add your first child. And if you're also getting a brand-new device ready for that child, our guide on how to set up a kid-proof iPhone and iPad pairs well with this step.
Step 2 — Add your child (create a child Apple Account)
There are two ways to add a child to Apple Family Sharing: create a new child Apple Account from scratch, or add an existing child account by invitation. Most parents of young children take the first path, simply because the child has never had an account before.
To create a new account, go to Settings > [your name] > Family, tap Add Member, then choose Create Child Account. Apple walks you through entering the child's name and real date of birth. That birthday step matters more than it looks — it sets the age-based content defaults on the account, so entering the correct date is what actually makes the age-appropriate protections work.
Per Apple's guidance on setting up a child's device, a child who is too young for a standard Apple ID gets a managed child account automatically. The family organizer — or a parent or guardian — stays in control. And to bring in a child who already has an account, you use Add a family member and send an invitation instead.
Once the child account exists, it becomes the anchor for everything that follows: Ask to Buy, Screen Time, and shared purchases all attach to this account. If you set a Screen Time passcode later and lose it — it happens — keep our guide on what to do when you forgot your Screen Time passcode handy. And for the broader set of child-safety settings, the iPhone parental controls hub covers the rest.
Step 3 — Turn on Ask to Buy (purchase approval)
Ask to Buy is the single most useful Family Sharing feature for parents. When it's on, every purchase or free download your child starts sends an approval request to you before anything goes through. Your child taps Get or Buy, and instead of the item downloading, you get a notification to approve or decline from your own device.
To manage it, go to Settings > [your name] > Family, tap your child's name, then tap Ask to Buy. According to Apple Support, Ask to Buy is on by default for young child accounts, and the approval request goes to the family organizer as well as any parent or guardian in the family. Worth noting: it covers free downloads too, not just paid apps. So nothing installs on your child's device without your yes.
Because those approvals land as notifications on your device, you can say yes to the reading app at breakfast and no to the mystery game at bedtime — without ever touching your child's phone. And if you also want to keep certain apps locked down on the child's device, our guide on how to lock specific apps covers that alongside Ask to Buy.
Step 4 — Manage Screen Time and content for your child
With your child in your family, you can set up Screen Time for them and manage it remotely from your own iPhone. Screen Time is Apple's built-in tool for controlling when and how long your child uses the device, and for restricting the content that shows up on it.
Open Settings > Screen Time, then choose your child listed under Family. From there you can set Downtime for the hours the device winds down, App Limits for categories like games or social, and Content and Privacy Restrictions for web filtering, age ratings, and explicit-content blocks. Communication Safety, which screens for sensitive images, is on by default for child accounts, as Apple describes.
One practical tip here: make your child's Screen Time passcode different from the device unlock code. Otherwise a curious kid who already knows the unlock code can quietly undo your limits. For the specifics of blocking sites, our guide on how to block websites on iPhone walks through the content filter, and if you get locked out, see forgot your Screen Time passcode. And for setting sensible limits in the first place, our guide on how much screen time for kids helps.
Step 5 — Share purchases, subscriptions, location, and photos
Once your kids are in the family, the sharing side of Apple Family Sharing kicks in. Shared purchases mean apps, music, and movies bought by anyone in the family become available to everyone — so your child can use apps you already own without you buying them a second time.
The family can also share subscriptions such as an Apple Music family plan, iCloud+, Apple TV+, and Apple Arcade across all members. A shared family photo album lets everyone add and view the same photos, and location sharing through Find My lets you see your child's device on a map. Apple confirms these shared features in its overview of Family Sharing.
Billing stays simple: purchases across the family run on the organizer's payment method, which is why that card had to be on file back in Step 1. But sharing doesn't mean exposure. Even with purchases and subscriptions pooled together, each person's private data — their messages, their personal files — stays private to their own account.
Family Sharing for kids: the complete setup checklist (recap)
Here's the whole Apple Family Sharing setup for kids in five steps, with the exact Settings path for each action so you can tick them off in order.
- Create your family: Settings > [your name] > Family > Set Up Family Sharing, then confirm your payment method and sharing choices.
- Add your child: Settings > [your name] > Family > Add Member > Create Child Account, using the child's real date of birth.
- Turn on Ask to Buy: Settings > [your name] > Family > [child's name] > Ask to Buy, so purchases and free downloads need your approval.
- Set Screen Time and content: Settings > Screen Time > [child under Family] for Downtime, App Limits, and Content and Privacy Restrictions.
- Confirm sharing: check that purchases, subscriptions, location, and the shared photo album are turned on from the Family screen.
A quick word on healthy screen time
Family Sharing gives you the controls — but the controls aren't the whole answer. The goal is balance, not zero, and the research actually supports a calmer approach than raw minute-counting.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and Common Sense Media both emphasize that what a child watches — and whether you watch alongside them — matters more than the exact number of minutes. Quality content and co-viewing shape the experience far more than a stopwatch does.
So use Ask to Buy and Screen Time to strip out the worst surprises, then put your energy into good content and shared time rather than a rigid daily cap. If you want a starting framework, our guide on how much screen time for kids and our 4 screen time rules both take this same balanced view.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Apple Family Sharing work?
Apple Family Sharing lets one adult — the family organizer — invite or create up to six family members, who each keep their own Apple Account while sharing purchases, subscriptions, iCloud+ storage, a photo album, and location. Everyone stays on a separate login, so private data such as messages stays private. For kids, the organizer adds purchase approval through Ask to Buy and manages Screen Time remotely.
How do I set up an Apple ID for my child?
To set up an Apple Account for your child, go to Settings > [your name] > Family > Add Member > Create Child Account and enter your child's name and real date of birth. A child too young for a standard Apple ID gets a managed child account automatically, with you in control. The birthday you enter sets the age-based content defaults, so use the correct date — it isn't just paperwork.
What is Ask to Buy and how do I turn it on?
Ask to Buy is a Family Sharing feature that sends every purchase or free download a child starts to the parent for approval before it goes through. Turn it on at Settings > [your name] > Family > [child's name] > Ask to Buy. It's on by default for young child accounts, and the request goes to the family organizer and any parent or guardian, who can approve or decline from their own device.
How many people can be in a Family Sharing group?
A Family Sharing group can include up to six family members, including the organizer, according to Apple Support. Only one adult can be the family organizer, and that person manages the shared payment method and the invitations. If you need to add someone once the group is already full, you have to remove a current member first.
What can parents see with Family Sharing?
With Family Sharing, parents can approve or decline purchases through Ask to Buy, set Screen Time and content limits, and see a child's device location through Find My. What parents cannot do is read the contents of a child's Messages or other private data — that stays tied to the child's own account. Family Sharing controls access and spending, not private conversations.
How do I remove a child from Family Sharing?
To remove a child from Family Sharing, open Settings > [your name] > Family, tap the child's name, and choose to remove them from the family. Children under 13 typically need to be moved to another family rather than removed entirely. Removing a member ends their access to shared purchases and subscriptions, and you may also want to turn parental controls back off on their device afterward.