How to Remove a Family Member From Family Sharing

This article explains how to remove a family member from Apple's Family Sharing on an iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, or Mac. Family Sharing is supported on devices with at least iOS 8.

How to Remove Someone From Family Sharing

Deleting someone from Family Sharing to stop sharing purchases with them is possible through the Settings app.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.

2. Tap your name at the top. If you don't see that, go to Accounts & Passwords > iCloud Drive.

3. Select Family Sharing.

   If you see Set Up Family Sharing instead, you'll need to log out and log back in with the Apple ID used to set up Family Sharing.

4. Tap the name of the family member you want to remove from Family Sharing.

5. Select Remove .

   You can hide Family Sharing purchases instead if you'd rather keep the member as part of the group but you want to make some of your purchases unavailable to them.

6. Confirm that you want to remove that person.

After the person is removed, you're returned to the main Family Sharing screen and can see that they are no longer listed.

What Happens When I Remove Someone From Family Share?

When you remove someone from your family, the person will no longer be able to access the purchases made by the other members. This includes purchases made through iTunes, Apple Books, and App Store. It also revokes access to Apple Music Family Memberships and iCloud storage plans.

You might remove someone from your Family Sharing account if you no longer want them to have access to these purchases or if you need to add someone else but you've already maxed out the six-person limit.

What Happens to Shared Content After Removal From Family Sharing?

So, you've removed a user from Family Sharing—but what happens to the content they shared with you and you shared with them? In some cases, the content is no longer accessible, but in other cases, it's still accessible.

iTunes, App, and Apple Books Store

If the person you've removed from Family Sharing bought any DRM-protected content, such as music, movies, TV shows, and apps, those items are no longer available to other Family Sharing users. The person who leaves the Family Sharing group also loses access to the purchases made by other members of the plan.

This happens because the ability to share someone else's purchases depends on being linked together by Family Sharing. When you break that link, you lose the ability to share.

In-App Purchases

If your favorite gaming app disappears from Family Sharing when you remove a family member, you can purchase it yourself to enjoy it. Any in-app purchases remain with the person who buys them, even if they leave Family Sharing, but they may need to download or purchase the app if one of the other family members bought it.

Apple Music

If an Apple Music subscription was shared among family members, the person who is no longer part of the Family Sharing group loses access. That includes any songs they've added to their library or downloaded for offline listening. To regain access to that music, they need to subscribe to Apple Music on their own.