Family Member “not using” shared iCloud storage

Ok this was happening to me but I figured it out, you have to go to iCloud in the device of the person being shared with then select iCloud, and under the scale showing how much of what is being used select manage storage, and lastly hit use family storage.

If she only has the free 5GB plan it should switch automatically when you share your storage plan. If she has a separate larger plan then she needs to switch if she wants to use the shared plan. See the information in Share iCloud+ with your family - Apple Support including the following:

When you share iCloud+, any family members using the free 5GB plan are added to your family plan automatically.

If a family member is already paying for their own iCloud+ plan, they can choose to switch to your plan or keep their own and still remain part of the family. When they switch to the shared family plan, they get a refund for the remainder of their personal plan. They can't keep their current plan and use the shared family plan at the same time.

I am in the same boat. Child with new device (wifi only right now) and her own Apple ID. Showing up as family member but she was not added automatically to our storage plan.

under “family usage” she shows up but listed as simply “Not Using”. Cannot for the life of me figure this out.

Hello, if you did not fix the issue the user above explained it well.

Go to the members phone that is joining the family plan and search iCloud. Select manage storage, and then select use family plan.

On the phone that is joining family.

iCloud>manage storage>use family plan

Rather than canceling, she should switch. See the following from the previous post:

If a family member is already paying for their own iCloud+ plan, they can choose to switch to your plan or keep their own and still remain part of the family. When they switch to the shared family plan, they get a refund for the remainder of their personal plan. They can't keep their current plan and use the shared family plan at the same time.

Best answer yet as that was no way intuitive!

How to join apple family sharing iCloud

Thank you for the tip sufian231