Sharing passwords with family, the careful way
With people you trust, sharing some passwords is perfectly sensible. Apple's Passwords app has a tidy, safe way to do it.
Families share things. The streaming services, the household accounts, perhaps the super account your partner helps keep an eye on. Texting passwords back and forth, or writing them on the fridge, is where it goes wrong.
Shared groups in the Passwords app
On iPhone, iPad and Mac you can create a shared group of trusted contacts and choose which passwords go in it. Everyone in the group sees the same passwords on their own devices, and when one person updates a password, everyone gets the new one. It's end-to-end encrypted through iCloud Keychain.
Everyone needs an Apple device on iOS 17, iPadOS 17 or macOS Sonoma or later. It doesn't work on Android or Windows.
Share with care
- Make a group for each purpose, such as Streaming with the kids and Household with your partner.
- Only put in what the group genuinely uses.
- Be choosiest with money accounts like super, and share them only with a partner who helps manage them.
- Keep your Apple Account and main email password to yourself.
- Remember that everyone in a group can add, change and delete its passwords.
When things change
Only the person who created the group can add or remove people. If someone leaves the group, they may still remember or have copied what they saw, so change the passwords that matter. Kids growing up, a separation or a falling-out are all good times to review who's in which group.
Sharing with people outside the family is different. See Outside helpers: invite them, don't share passwords.
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