Someone invited you to share their Microsoft 365 Family subscription
Applies To
Office for business Microsoft account dashboardThe owner of a Microsoft 365 Family subscription can share their benefits with up to five people. They may invite you to join their Microsoft 365 Family subscription. Accepting this invitation grants you access to the subscription benefits including 1 TB or personal OneDrive storage and desktop apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook at no charge to you.
Note: Microsoft 365 isn't available in all markets. If you're the owner of the Microsoft 365 Family subscription and you want to learn how share it with someone, see Share your Microsoft 365 Family subscription.
Accept the invite and start using Microsoft 365
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If you received an email inviting you to share Microsoft 365 Family, select Accept.
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On You're invited, select Get Started. If you're not already signed in, you may be prompted to sign in with a Microsoft account. If you don't have a Microsoft account, create one. You must select the Get Started button and sign in with your Microsoft account before you move on to the next step.
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From the Microsoft 365 Family page, select the button Install Office and follow the prompts. For step-by-step help to download and install the apps, see Sign in to download and install Office on a PC or Mac.
Tip: If you'd prefer to install the apps later, or you've already installed them on one device and now want to install them on another, you don't need to do steps 1 and 2 again. Go directly to step 3 and if prompted, sign in with the same Microsoft account you used when you originally accepted the invitation.
Additional Information Regarding Shared Family Resources
When you accept an invitation to share Microsoft 365 Family, you'll automatically be added to the subscription holder's Family group. Members of the Family group have access to the shared Family email Inbox, Calendar, and OneNote notebooks, but cannot access one another's personal calendars, emails, or files. Read more about file privacy and shared family files below.
Frequently Asked Questions
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No, the personal data of each person sharing a subscription remains private. None of your personal files, emails, appointments, or OneNote notebooks will appear in the shared Family locations. They are stored separately.
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No one will have access to your personal files – they remain only accessible to you unless you explicitly share them with others.
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None of your data is shared with the subscription holder once you join. If you wish, you can share certain types of data, like web browsing activity and screen time. Go to the Microsoft Family Safety home page to learn more.
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Once you accept the invitation, you’ll see a new Family inbox and Family calendar in Outlook.com. You’ll also see a Family Notebook in OneNote. These locations are created so Family members can easily share important information while keeping their private files, emails, and information separate.
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Your files will remain intact. You will remain part of the Family group, but all your Microsoft 365 Family benefits will also expire. You will lose access to the fully functional desktop Office applications, but you will still be able to view and print your Office files. You won’t be able to edit them or create new documents. You will also lose your 1TB OneDrive storage benefit, and it will revert back to its previous size. Please see this article about canceling a Microsoft 365 subscription for more information.
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