The "Join This Apple TV" prompt appears when someone tries to share their Apple TV access with you

When you see a notification that says "Join This Apple TV" or a similar prompt on your device, someone who knows your Apple ID has sent you an invitation to watch their Apple TV subscription. This is Apple's Family Sharing feature at work — it lets people in the same family group share their Apple TV+ subscription and other purchases.

You have three choices: accept the invitation, ignore it, or turn off the feature so you stop receiving these requests altogether. Which one you pick depends on whether you want to share access with this person and whether you want to keep Family Sharing turned on for other reasons.

Key Takeaways

  • A "Join This Apple TV" notification means someone sent you a Family Sharing invitation through their Apple ID settings.
  • You can decline individual invitations without affecting other Family Sharing features like shared purchases or iCloud storage.
  • Turning off Family Sharing entirely stops all sharing invitations, but it also disables shared purchases and other group features.
  • If you want to keep Family Sharing but block one specific person, you can remove them from your family group in Settings.
  • The steps differ slightly between iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV devices, but the settings are in the same general location.

How to decline a single invitation without turning off Family Sharing

If you want to keep Family Sharing active for other reasons — such as shared photo libraries or shared purchases — but you do not want to accept this particular invitation, you can straightforward decline it. On an iPhone or iPad, open the notification and tap "Decline" or "Not Now." The invitation disappears, and you will not see it again unless the person sends a new one.

On a Mac, go to System Settings (or System Preferences on older versions), click your Apple ID at the top of the sidebar, then select "Family." Look for the pending invitation and click the X or "Decline" button next to it. On an Apple TV device, go to Settings, select Users and Accounts, then your account, and look for pending invitations in the Family Sharing section.

Declining an invitation does not notify the other person, and it does not remove you from the family group if you are already a member. You can decline as many invitations as you receive without changing any other settings.

How to remove someone from your family group

If the same person keeps sending you invitations and you want them to stop, you can remove them from your family group. This is different from declining an invitation — it actually ends the family connection between your accounts.

On iPhone or iPad, open Settings, tap your name at the top, select "Family," find the person's name, tap "Remove," and confirm. On a Mac, go to System Settings, click your Apple ID, select "Family," right-click the person's name, and choose "Remove from Family." On Apple TV, go to Settings, Users and Accounts, your account, Family Sharing, and look for the option to remove members.

Once you remove someone, they can no longer share their subscriptions with you, and you can no longer share yours with them. They will not receive a notification that you removed them, but they will notice they no longer have access to your shared content.

How to turn off Family Sharing completely

If you want to stop all Family Sharing features — not just Apple TV invitations, but shared purchases, shared photo libraries, and everything else — you can disable Family Sharing entirely. This is a bigger step than declining an invitation, because it affects all family members and all shared features.

On iPhone or iPad, go to Settings, tap your name, select "Family," scroll to the bottom, and tap "Stop Using Family Sharing." You will see a warning that all family members will lose access to shared content. Confirm by tapping "Stop Using Family Sharing" again. On a Mac, go to System Settings, click your Apple ID, select "Family," scroll down, and click "Stop Using Family Sharing."

On Apple TV, go to Settings, Users and Accounts, your account, Family Sharing, and look for an option to disable it. The exact wording varies by tvOS version, but it will be in that section. After you turn off Family Sharing, no one can send you invitations, and you cannot send them either.

What happens to shared content when you decline or remove someone

If you decline an invitation, nothing changes — you straightforward do not accept the offer. The other person still has access to their own subscription, and you keep access to yours. No shared content is affected because you were never part of the sharing arrangement in the first place.

If you remove someone from your family group, you lose access to anything they were sharing with you — typically their Apple TV+ subscription, app purchases, or iCloud storage. They also lose access to anything you were sharing. If you turn off Family Sharing entirely, all family members lose access to all shared features at once.

How to prevent future invitations from the same person

If you have declined an invitation and the person sends another one, you can block them at the Apple ID level. Go to Settings (or System Settings on Mac), tap your name, select "Password & Security," scroll down to "Apps & Websites," and look for the person's Apple ID. Tap it and select "Stop Using This App" or a similar option to revoke their access to your account information.

This does not prevent them from sending an invitation — it just means they cannot see certain details about your account. A more direct approach is to ask them not to send another invitation, or to remove them from your family group as described above. If they continue to send unwanted invitations after you have asked them to stop, you may want to block their Apple ID entirely through your account security settings.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will the person know if I decline their invitation?

No. Declining an invitation is silent — the other person does not receive a notification. They may notice over time that you never accepted, but they will not get a message saying you declined.

Can I accept an invitation later if I decline it now?

Only if the person sends a new invitation. Once you decline, that specific invitation is gone. The person would have to go back to their Family Sharing settings and send the invitation again.

What if I turn off Family Sharing and then want to turn it back on?

You can turn Family Sharing back on at any time by going to Settings, your Apple ID, Family, and selecting "Create a Family" or "Join a Family." You will need to set it up again, and family members will need to accept new invitations.

Does declining a Family Sharing invitation affect my Apple TV+ subscription?

No. Declining an invitation only affects whether you accept that person's shared subscription. Your own Apple TV+ account, if you have one, continues to work normally.

Can I remove someone from Family Sharing without them knowing?

They will not get a notification, but they will notice when they try to use your shared content and find it is no longer available. If they check their Family Sharing settings, they will see they are no longer part of the group.