Learn how to create a Shared Passwords Group on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac to make your selected iCloud Keychain login passwords securely available to family members, friends, and other trusted contacts.
We all have some common account, website, or app passwords, passkeys, and two-factor authentication codes that we’d like to share with other people.
For instance, my wife and I use one Amazon account for groceries and other purchases. So, I’ve shared my Amazon password (stored in my Apple Passwords app) with her, and she can use it on her iPhone to log in or authenticate whenever needed.
This is made possible thanks to Apple’s handy Shared Groups feature in the Apple Passwords app on iOS 18, macOS Sequoia, and later (or in the Passwords section of Settings/System Settings on iOS 17/macOS Sonoma).
Members of the group can add passwords and passkeys, which become available to all other group participants. Similarly, when you or a member changes the password, the new update is automatically available on everyone’s devices.
Important:
- Passwords moved to a Shared Group will become inaccessible on devices running unsupported versions of iOS, iPadOS, or macOS.
- We’re using the Apple Passwords app on an iPhone to demonstrate the steps, but it’s similar on iPad and Mac.
- Before moving forward, go to iPhone, iPad, or Mac Settings > Apple Account > iCloud > Passwords and make sure iCloud sync is enabled.
1) Open the Apple Passwords app on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
2) Tap the new folder icon on iOS. And on macOS, take the pointer over ‘Shared Groups’ and click the tiny plus icon that appears.
3) Assign a desired name to your shared passwords group, then tap Add people.
4) Type the name of your contact (i.e., spouse, child, or friend) and select it from suggestions. When you do this, select the name, phone number, or email address that turns blue to confirm the invitation will be sent via iMessage. Repeat this to add additional people if needed, and then tap the checkmark icon.
5) Review once more the group name, the people you’re about to add, and tap the checkmark icon again.
6) Now, select the account passwords you want to share and tap Move. You can also share passwords later, as explained below.
7) You can optionally notify the person that you have shared account login details by sending them a message.
If you had notified the person through iMessage, they can simply open the Messages app, go to your conversation, tap View > Accept.
If you didn’t notify the person, they can go to the Passwords app on their device, tap Group Invitations > View > Accept.
Once the person accepts the invitation, they will see a screen asking to “Move Passwords to Group?”
- They can tap Choose Passwords and share their passwords with the other members of this Shared Passwords Group.
- Or, if they have no passwords to contribute to this Shared Passwords Group, they can tap Not Now.
Group members can access all these common passwords by tapping the folder under the Shared Groups section of the Apple Passwords app on their respective devices. These account passwords also appear in the “All” section and have a tiny shared icon.
Shared passwords and two-factor authentication codes behave like your personal non-shared passwords, and you see them as autofill suggestions on the login page.
Create more password groups
You can follow the above steps and create more password groups. However, a single account password can be shared with only one group. If you try to add the same password to another group, it will prompt you to move it. And if you tap Move to Group, the previous group members will lose access to it (unless they also happen to be a part of the new group).
The person who created the Shared Passwords Group and all its members can add new passwords to the group. But only the group’s creator can add new people to the group.
1) Go to the Apple Passwords app and select the shared group.
2) Tap the plus button and choose:
- New Password: To manually add a new account password details.
- Move Passwords to Group: To move some existing passwords to this shared group.
Tip: You can also tap a saved password and then change its Group to a Shared Group to move it there.
To add more people, tap the info button ⓘ at the top, followed by Add People.
Only the person who created the Shared Passwords Group can remove added members and delete the group. However, members can leave the group on their own.
- Go to the Apple Passwords app and select the shared group.
- Tap the info button ⓘ at the top.
- To remove a member, tap their name and then tap Remove From Group. To delete the group, tap Delete Group. And tap Leave Group if you’re a member who no longer wants to be a part of this Shared Passwords Group.
