How do I turn auto billing on in my family account without having a subscription first?

Question

How do I turn auto billing on in my family account without having a subscription first?

Allyson Thompson 30

Hello - My son is trying to access his 3 month free trial gaming pass with Xbox. We are able to click on claim offer and add my paypal account, but it won't let me get the subscription because it says a family member needs to turn on auto billing. I've logged into family and can't figure out how to do that without already having the subscription. I understand if I already had the subscription, I would do that in MANAGE. Please help!

Derek Fosson 10 Reputation points

2026-02-08T15:43:03.2966667+00:00
I finally got this resolved myself after wasting way too much time in Microsoft support chats (they kept saying the trial was "inactive" and to contact the retailer—Amazon in my case—which wasn't the issue at all).

What actually worked for me (bundled 3-month PC Game Pass trial on a child account with family group):

As the family organizer, go to account.microsoft.com/family.

Select your child's account.

Under "Consent" or privacy/consent settings, I removed consent for her profile first (not sure if this was necessary, but I did it before anything else worked—maybe it helped reset some restrictions? Worth trying if the below alone doesn't do it).

Still in the child's account settings: Go to Spending > Turn OFF "Require approval for every purchase" (this is key—my credit card was already added to her account, so no new payment method was needed).

Switch to your child's signed-in account on the laptop.

Open the Xbox app or Microsoft Store > Library > "Included with device" (or the promo banner/claim section) and redeem/claim the trial.

It went through right away—no more "A family member needs to turn on recurring billing" error.

This seems to be a super common loop for child accounts claiming bundled laptop trials (Digital Direct promos with no code). Turning off purchase approval lets the organizer's payment method flow through without the missing "Manage recurring billing" toggle showing up pre-activation.

Microsoft really needs to fix this—it's frustrating for parents and shouldn't require digging into family safety settings to claim a free bundled trial.

Hope this saves someone else the headache! If the consent removal wasn't needed, feel free to skip it, but I included it since that's the sequence that finally worked for me.
Graeme Edwardson 0 Reputation points

2026-02-19T22:50:56.12+00:00

Thanks, Derek. This resolved the same issue I was experiencing after spending far longer than it should to claim a 3 month Xbox gaming pass. Microsoft documentation on this issue is very poor and inaccurate.

I skipped step 3 and went straight to step 4, turning off "Require approval for every purchase". It redeemed right away.
Jesse Murray 0 Reputation points

2026-07-07T18:54:28.95+00:00

Derek is the hero we need, thank you for tracking that down!

Answer accepted by question author

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Your answer

Derek Fosson 10 Reputation points

2026-02-08T15:43:03.2966667+00:00

I finally got this resolved myself after wasting way too much time in Microsoft support chats (they kept saying the trial was "inactive" and to contact the retailer—Amazon in my case—which wasn't the issue at all).

What actually worked for me (bundled 3-month PC Game Pass trial on a child account with family group):

As the family organizer, go to account.microsoft.com/family.

Select your child's account.

Under "Consent" or privacy/consent settings, I removed consent for her profile first (not sure if this was necessary, but I did it before anything else worked—maybe it helped reset some restrictions? Worth trying if the below alone doesn't do it).

Still in the child's account settings: Go to Spending > Turn OFF "Require approval for every purchase" (this is key—my credit card was already added to her account, so no new payment method was needed).

Switch to your child's signed-in account on the laptop.

Open the Xbox app or Microsoft Store > Library > "Included with device" (or the promo banner/claim section) and redeem/claim the trial.

It went through right away—no more "A family member needs to turn on recurring billing" error.

This seems to be a super common loop for child accounts claiming bundled laptop trials (Digital Direct promos with no code). Turning off purchase approval lets the organizer's payment method flow through without the missing "Manage recurring billing" toggle showing up pre-activation.

Microsoft really needs to fix this—it's frustrating for parents and shouldn't require digging into family safety settings to claim a free bundled trial.

Hope this saves someone else the headache! If the consent removal wasn't needed, feel free to skip it, but I included it since that's the sequence that finally worked for me.
Graeme Edwardson 0 Reputation points

2026-02-19T22:50:56.12+00:00

Thanks, Derek. This resolved the same issue I was experiencing after spending far longer than it should to claim a 3 month Xbox gaming pass. Microsoft documentation on this issue is very poor and inaccurate.

I skipped step 3 and went straight to step 4, turning off "Require approval for every purchase". It redeemed right away.
Jesse Murray 0 Reputation points

2026-07-07T18:54:28.95+00:00

Derek is the hero we need, thank you for tracking that down!

Answer 1

To turn on auto billing for a family account, you typically need to have an active subscription. However, if you're trying to access a free trial, the auto billing feature may need to be enabled by a family member who has the appropriate permissions. Here are some steps you can take:

Check Family Settings: Ensure that you are logged into the family account and check the family settings to see if there is an option for managing subscriptions or billing.
Claim the Offer: If your son is trying to claim a free trial offer, make sure that the offer is available for your family account and that you follow the prompts to add your payment method.
Contact Support: If you are unable to find the option to enable auto billing without an existing subscription, consider reaching out to Xbox support for assistance. They can provide specific guidance based on your account status.

Unfortunately, without an existing subscription, the options to manage billing settings may be limited, and you may need to complete the trial activation first.

References:

Try or buy a Microsoft 365 for business subscription