Family Sharing forces to transfer Apple ID

When my daughter (full Apple ID, of legal age) tries to access my movies via Family Sharing, her MacBook Air (macOS Monterey) for some titles says: :"This computer is already associated with an Apple ID...." and wants her to transfer the Apple ID, warning that if she does that, she cannot switch back for 90 days.


Other titles it simply plays as expected. I was not able to determine the pattern, but the distribution is fixed - some titles play always, others never.


Why would she need to switch the Apple ID to play movies via Family Sharing - I thought that's what Family Sharing is for - to not have to do that!

MacBook Air (2018 – 2020)

Posted on Apr 18, 2023 8:25 AM

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6 replies

Apr 18, 2023 9:16 AM in response to J_Deepwell

I don't know exactly what she is doing, but the 90 day message is referring to changing Apple IDs on Apple hardware. View and remove your devices that are associated with Apple ID purchases - Apple Support - What this is saying is for certain actions such as turning on Match, Apple Music, Family Sharing, automatic downloads, or re-downloading of past purchases there is a 90 day waiting period between associating [using] a computer or mobile device with a new Apple ID . There is no wait for making new purchases.


You do not need to change IDs. It sounds like your daughter is not using Purchase Sharing to get access to your movies, she is logging into a different ID (yours?).


How to share purchases with your family - Apple Support

- "When you turn on purchase sharing, everyone in your family gets access to apps, music, movies, TV shows, and books that family members buy. The family organizer is billed for family members' purchases" (but read the document for the link to "learn how purchases are billed if a family member has Apple ID balance").


If you have Purchase Sharing turned on, she should be able to download any of your purchases that are not hidden from her and which allow purchase sharing (not everything does).



Apr 18, 2023 9:31 AM in response to Limnos

Thank you for getting back to me about this!


She is simply doing what is described as the procedure to access Family Sharing content in

How to download apps and content that your family members purchased - Apple Support


So she's opening the TV app, switching to the Library tab, clicking the arrow next to Library in the sidebar and selecting my library.


Then she tries to play a movie from my library – and some movies simply play and for others she gets the mentioned "This computer is already associated with an Apple ID..." message.


All those movies play without issue on my MacBook by the way.


She is not wilfully trying to switch to another Apple ID, she just tries to play movies from my library, shared via Family Sharing.


I don't see why she gets the message at all, but more so I do not understand the criteria on which the system decides for which movies it shows that message and which not. It's confusing and frustrating...

Apr 18, 2023 11:16 AM in response to Limnos

Yes, she is logged into her own user account on the computer, it is set to her Apple ID and never was set to anything else.


Also, she can rent movies and play them fine (with her Apple ID).


We tried multiple movies from library now to maybe find a pattern – but I cannot see any. Some play without issue, other present the "...associated with an Apple ID..." message...


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Family Sharing forces to transfer Apple ID

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