Family Sharing not sharing purchases with family members
Family Sharing purchases only work when Family Purchase Sharing is switched on in Settings. Go to Settings → [Your Name] → Family Sharing and make sure Purchase Sharing is turned on. If it's already on, sign out of the App Store, wait 30 seconds, and sign back in. This fixes it in most cases.
Family Sharing lets you buy apps once and share them with everyone in your family. But the purchases won't appear for others unless Purchase Sharing is switched on. Sometimes the connection between your account and the App Store gets mixed up, which is why signing out and back in fixes it quickly. If that doesn't work, the family organizer might need to fix the payment method or check who's included in the sharing group.
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Skip — I just want a technicianCommon mistakes to avoid
- Thinking that Family Sharing is automatically on for purchases. It's a separate toggle that you have to switch on yourself
- Adding someone to the family group but forgetting to wait for them to accept the invitation
- Not realizing that only the organizer's purchases can be shared. Family members buying their own things need their own Apple ID
Signs you need professional help
- You've turned on Purchase Sharing and waited 10 minutes but family members still can't see purchases, you get an error message saying the family group is full or has too many members, or the payment method shows as valid but the App Store still won't let anyone make purchases.
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