how to share devices under the family plan

Under a Microsoft 365 Family (or Premium) subscription, devices are handled in two ways:

1. Sharing the subscription with people in the family
2. Installing and signing in to Microsoft 365 apps or Microsoft Defender on each device

1. Share the Microsoft 365 Family subscription with family members

If the current $13.77/month subscription is Microsoft 365 Family or Premium, it can be shared with up to five other people (six total including the owner). To share it:

1. Go to the Microsoft 365 Subscriptions sharing page: https://account.microsoft.com/services/office/sharing and sign in with the subscription owner’s Microsoft account.
2. Select Share.
3. Choose how to invite each family member:
   • Email invite: Enter their email and select Invite; or
   • Create link: Select Create link, then Copy link and send it via email, text, etc.
4. Each person must open the email/link, select Get started, then Join now to join the family group and accept the subscription share.
5. They must accept within 48 hours; otherwise the invitation shows as Pending invite and can be resent.

Once they accept, each person gets their own Microsoft 365 benefits and can install the apps and use their own 1 TB OneDrive.

2. Install Microsoft 365 on additional devices

For the subscription owner and each person it is shared with:

• Microsoft 365 desktop apps can be installed on all their devices.
• To install, each person signs in to their own Microsoft account dashboard and uses the Install Microsoft 365 option.
• There is no limit on installations, but only five devices can be signed in at the same time per person. If a sixth device is signed in, one of the earlier devices is signed out automatically. To use Microsoft 365 again on that device, just sign back in.

3. Adding devices to Microsoft Defender (if included)

If Microsoft Defender is part of the subscription, each person can:

• Install Defender on up to five devices per person by installing the app and signing in with the same personal Microsoft account.
• From the Defender app, use Add another device to:
  • Copy link to share a download link,
  • Email link to send a download link to an email address,
  • Scan QR code to get the download link on a mobile device,
  • Or use Other (Android/iOS) to share via the device’s share options.

These devices then appear on the Microsoft Defender dashboard so each person can see the security status of their devices.

If the subscription is Microsoft 365 Personal instead of Family/Premium, it cannot be shared with other people; only the subscriber can install and use it on their own devices.

References:

• Share your Microsoft 365 Family or Premium subscription
• Manage Microsoft 365 Family subscription sharing
• Video: Share Microsoft 365 with your family
• Adding devices to Microsoft Defender
• Getting started with Microsoft Defender
• how to download microsoft office 365 from subscription with multiple installs - Microsoft Q&A
• Is there a device limit on 365 Family installs? - Microsoft Q&A