Learn how to remove a member from your Family Sharing group on iPhone, iPad, or Mac, or leave the group yourself and disband your digital family setup.
Family Sharing is a convenient feature for sharing music, books, apps, photos, subscriptions, and other items with up to five family members. It also helps to know the location of your family members at all times or locate their device in case it goes missing.
But what if there comes a time when Family Sharing is no longer needed? Maybe the kids have grown up and left home to set up their own family group. Or maybe you have separated from your spouse, or you simply no longer want to use Family Sharing. You may also have to disband the family group if you want to remove an added payment method, like a credit card, from your Apple Account.
Remove a member from your Family Sharing group
You — the organizer of an Apple family group — can remove members from it.
- Open the Settings app on your iOS device or System Settings on your Mac. We’re using an iPhone to demonstrate these steps.
- Tap Family from the top. If you don’t see this, tap your Apple Account name from the top and then select Family,
- You will see all your added family members here. Select the one you want to remove.
- Tap Remove Person from Family and confirm.
If the Remove Person from Family button is grayed out, that means you have selected the account for a child that’s under 13 years of age. Apple accounts of children under 13 must be added to a family setup and managed by a parent or guardian. Therefore, you cannot remove them. However, you can remove them after fulfilling either one of the following three conditions:
- Transfer this child’s account to another family, like the one created by your spouse or the child’s guardian.
- Alternatively, you can wait for them (i.e., their age according to their Apple Account) to turn 13 and then remove them from your Family setup.
- And if the above two solutions are not suitable for you, you can delete your child’s Apple Account. However, before you do that, remember to sign out of their Apple Account on their devices.
Extra info: If you are worried about your child accessing some adult or sensitive books, apps, music, TV shows, or movies you have purchased, you can hide those titles, and they will not be available to members through Family Sharing.
Leave Family Sharing or disband your family group
A person that’s aged 13 or older can leave a Family Sharing group on their own.
Furthermore, you — the organizer of a family group — can also leave the group, but when you do that, you disband the digital family setup, which results in all family members being removed from the group together. In other words, when a family organizer leaves the group, the entire family group gets dissolved.
The steps for leaving the group for a member or organizer are the same, as explained below.
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad and tap Family from the top of the screen.
- Tap your name, which says (You) next to it.
- Tap Stop Using Family Sharing and confirm.
Important: Is the Stop Using Family Sharing button grayed out? A family organizer cannot leave a group and disband the digital family setup if a child under 13 is added to the family. However, the organizer can transfer the child to another family or delete the child’s account and then disband the group.
After you remove a member or yourself from a Family Sharing group, the content shared by the family is no longer available to the removed person. This can include an Apple Music subscription, iCloud+ storage plan, games, apps, and more. For more details on how all of this works, check out the Apple Support site.
Do you use Family Sharing, and if so, do you and your group find it useful? Share your thoughts on the feature with us below!
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