How to share photos with Family Sharing and iCloud

By Jaclyn Kilani
published

Iphone 13 Pro Photos Shared Album Activity Hero
Iphone 13 Pro Photos Shared Album Activity Hero (Image credit: Christine Romero-Chan / iMore)
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Apple's iCloud service offers a fantastic feature for family groups called Family Sharing: It lets you share storage space, purchase accounts, Apple Music subscriptions, and more between multiple iCloud users — including managed accounts for younger children.

Family Sharing also integrates with Apple's free Shared Albums feature to provide your family with a secure shared album where you can share images and video. Each family member has their own separate iCloud Photo Library or Photo Stream library, but the Family album allows them a space to store communal photos, images, and video.

Here's how to use iCloud Photo Sharing in tandem with Family Sharing to access the Family album on your best iPhone, iPad, or Mac.

Note: Before proceeding, make sure you've turned on iCloud Shared Albums — you won't be able to use the Family album if it's not enabled. You don't have to use iCloud Photo Library to turn on sharing if you prefer another syncing alternative.

How to view the Family album on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac

Want to see what your family members have already added to this album? You'll want to open the Shared section of your Photos app.

On iPhone or iPad

  1. Launch the Photos app on your iPhone or iPad.
  2. Tap on the Albums tab.
  3. Scroll down to the Shared Albums section and select the Family album. (If you can't see it, tap on See All and browse through the shared albums until you find it.)

Open Photos, Tap Albums, Scroll To Shared (Image credit: iMore)

On your Mac

  1. Launch Photos on your Mac.
  2. Under the Shared section of the Sidebar, click Shared Albums.
  3. Select the Family album.

Launch photos, Click shared albums, Select Family album (Image credit: iMore)

How to add new photos or video to the Family album on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac

When you want to add images to your Family album, you'll do so like pretty much any other album addition.

On your iPhone or iPad

  1. Launch the Photos app on your iPhone or iPad.
  2. Tap on the Albums tab.
  3. Scroll down to the Shared Albums section and select the Family album. (If you can't see it, tap on See All and browse through the shared albums until you find it.)

Open Photos, Tap Albums, Scroll To Shared (Image credit: iMore)
  1. Tap on the plus sign.
  2. Tap the photos you want to add and then tap Done in the upper right corner.
  3. Type a description if you'd like, and then tap Post in the pop-up window.

Tap Plus Sign, Select Photos, Tap Post (Image credit: iMore)

On your Mac

  1. Launch Photos on your Mac.
  2. Click the photos you want to share with family (shift-click or command-click to select multiple).
  3. Click the share button on the upper right of the window. It's a box with an upward arrow.
  4. Click Shared Albums.
  5. Click Family. The images will then sync over to your family member's device.

Click the Share button, click iCloud Photo Sharing, click Family (Image credit: iMore)

How to remove photos or video from the Family album on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac

No longer want an image or video in your Family album? Any member of the family can delete content from the album at any time.

On your iPhone or iPad

  1. Launch the Photos app on your iPhone or iPad.
  2. Tap on the Albums tab.
  3. Scroll down to the Shared Albums section and select the Family album. (If you can't see it, tap on See All and browse through the shared albums until you find it.)

Open Photos, Tap Albums, Scroll To Shared (Image credit: iMore)
  1. Tap Select in the upper right corner.
  2. Tap the photos or video you want to delete.

Tap Select, Select Photos (Image credit: iMore)
  1. Tap the Trash icon in the bottom right corner.
  2. Tap Delete Photos to confirm that you want to delete the selected photos.

Select Photos, Tap Delete (Image credit: iMore)

On your Mac

  1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
  2. Click on Shared Albums in the sidebar.
  3. Select the Family album.
  4. Select the images you wish to delete.

Launch photos, Select Shared Albums, Choose Photos (Image credit: iMore)
  1. Press the Delete key on your keyboard.
  2. Click on Delete to confirm that you want to remove the photo from the shared album.

Right Click, Select Delete, Confirm Delete (Image credit: iMore)

Share your favorite memories

As you can see, it's easy to use Family Sharing and iCloud to share your favorite moments with those close to you. And whenever someone shares a new photo or video, you'll get a notification! Never miss out on those great memories again.

Updated March 2022: Updated for both Mac and iOS.

Jaclyn Kilani
Jaclyn Kilani
Contributor

Jaclyn Kilani is a content writer at iMore. She's a longtime Apple addict with a flair for creating (written works, design, photos; you name it!) on her devices. Jaclyn has also worked in the marketing sector for over 16 years, dabbling in a bit of everything from writing to graphic design and digital marketing. In her heart of hearts, however, she is a born writer and an avid reader who adores everything about the written word. Someday she may even churn out a book or two.

Throughout her career, Jaclyn has also developed something of an addiction to all things Apple. Her professional and personal life is enhanced by an ever-growing collection of iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, Apple Watches, and even AirTags. Luckily, this expensive habit is of great use to her work at iMore, where she writes with authority on Apple products and the accessories that go with them.

3 Comments
  • We've been using family share for over a year now, but the "Family" album simply does not appear in our shared photo albums. I'm slowly walking through each phone to make sure all of our settings are identical, but cannot find anyone with this problem. Yes, we use actual family sharing, not just shared storage. Yes, we have iCloud photos on, photo stream off and family sharing enabled.
  • I use filename as the key to all my photos. Apple (bizarrely) only allows one to display the title field as a photo descriptor. Using an Apple script I was able to copy the filename to the title field in all photos in all my Photos albums. However, when I "share" an album with the shared Family album the title field is empty. The Apple script does not work on the Family album. Does anyone know a way around this? I switched from Google photos because I don't trust Google but Apple does not make this easy.
  • Family sharing on Apple devices have no equal.