Share purchases with others in your Family Sharing group on Mac
As a member of a Family Sharing group, you have immediate access to purchases shared by other group members. You can download their purchases on your Mac, iOS device and iPadOS device at any time.
Other members of the group can access your purchases in the same way. You can hide individual purchases you don’t want other group members to share.
Only the family organiser can set up purchase sharing (see Set up Family Sharing).
View and download purchases made by other family members
The way you download purchases made by other family members varies depending on the app.
View or download music: Sign in to the Music app on your Mac, then choose Account > Purchased. Click the pop-up menu next to Purchased, choose a family member, then download the items you want.
View or download apps: Sign in to the App Store app on your Mac, then choose Store > Account. Click the “Purchased by” pop-up menu, choose a family member, then download the items you want.
View or download books: Sign in to the Books app on your Mac, then choose Account > View My Account. Below Family Purchases, click a family member, then download the items you want.
When a family member initiates a purchase, it’s billed directly to the family organiser’s account. After it’s purchased, the item is added to the initiating family member’s account and is shared with the rest of the group. If the family organiser ever stops Family Sharing, each person keeps the items they chose to purchase — even if they were paid for by the family organiser. For information about iCloud storage upgrade purchases, see Manage iCloud storage.
For additional information about downloading purchases, see the Apple Support article How to download apps and content that your family members purchased.
Hide a purchase from other family members
You can hide your individual Music, App Store and Apple Books purchases so they aren’t available to other family members.
Hide music: Sign in to the Music app on your Mac, then choose Account > Purchased. Select the type of content you want to hide, place the pointer over the item you want to hide, click the Delete button , then click Hide.
Hide apps: Sign in to the App Store app on your Mac, then choose Store > Account. Move the pointer over the app you want to hide, click the More Options button , choose Hide Purchase, then click Hide Purchase.
Hide books: Sign in to the Books app on your Mac, then click All (or another collection) in the sidebar. Click the More Options button below the item you want to hide, click Remove, then click Hide <item type>.
Stop hiding a purchase
You can reveal individual Music, App Store and Apple Books purchases that you hid previously so they’re available to other family members.
Stop hiding music: Sign in to the Music app on your Mac, then choose Account > Account Settings. Go to Downloads and Purchases, click Manage, then click Unhide for the item.
Stop hiding apps: Sign in to the App Store app on your Mac, then choose Store > Account. Click Account Settings. In the hidden items section, click Manage, then click Unhide for the item.
Stop hiding books: Sign in to the Books app on your Mac, then choose Account > View My Account. Click Manage Hidden Purchases, enter your Apple ID and password, click Sign In, then click Unhide for the item.
Stop sharing your purchases
When you stop sharing your purchases, your family members lose access to all your shared iTunes Store, App Store and Apple Books purchases.
On your Mac, choose Apple menu > System Settings, then click Family in the sidebar.
If you don’t see Family, set up Family Sharing.
Click Purchase Sharing on the right, click [your name], then turn off Share My Purchases.
Turn off purchase sharing
When you turn off purchase sharing for your Family Sharing group, your family members lose access to all shared iTunes Store, App Store and Apple Books purchases and can’t make new shared purchases.
Only the family organiser can turn off purchase sharing for the group.
On your Mac, choose Apple menu > System Settings, then click Family in the sidebar.
If you don’t see Family, set up Family Sharing.
Click Purchase Sharing on the right, click Stop Purchase Sharing, then click Stop Purchase Sharing again.
For information about combining your Apple subscriptions, see the Apple Support article Bundle Apple subscriptions with Apple One.
Note: To share purchases, family members must be in the same iTunes Store country or region. If a family member changes their iTunes Store country or region, that person might lose access to other family members’ purchases, and installed apps that were shared from other family members might not work. See the Apple Support article Change your Apple ID country or region.