Locked Apple ID stuck in Family Sharing — Support says no fix exists

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Locked Apple ID stuck in Family Sharing — Support says no fix exists

I have an old, unused Apple ID that is locked/disabled. It's still showing as a member in my iCloud Family Sharing group, and I can't remove it — I tap Remove, confirm, and nothing happens (no error, it just stays there). I've tried this on iPhone and via account.apple.com.

I contacted Apple Support via chat and by phone. Both confirmed:

The account can't be reactivated.
They cannot manually remove it from the family group on their end.
Their suggestion was to just create a new Apple ID going forward.

Has anyone dealt with a locked account stuck in Family Sharing and actually gotten it resolved? Any tips on which team/escalation path worked for you?

Posted on Jul 13, 2026 4:38 AM

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Answer 1

Jul 13, 2026 5:08 AM in response to fedi128

Re: “… Any tips on which team/escalation path worked for you? …

Unfortunately no.

Been down that road.

Never found a “clean” solution.

Still have a non-existent “child” in a family.

= = = = =

As the account in your case can’t even be reactivated by Apple (and therefore un-recoverable and un-deletable by you) it’s really no longer too much of a security concern. (as it can’t be taken-over by a malevolent bad-actor)

IF the account is NOT a child account, you can probably simply disband your family entirely and build it anew.

This should “clean up” your family sharing account.

How to leave or remove a member from a Family Sharing group - Apple Support (QA)

Caveat: I’ve not been able test this “clran up” myself as our own “non-existent child” is not yet old enough and can’t be orphaned.

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