How to Fix “Family Information Is Not Available” on iPhone?

With the family sharing option on iPhone, you can seamlessly share your subscriptions/app purchases with anyone in your family. It works great most of the time. However, you may often encounter a problem where you see a message that “family information is not available”.

While this is a typical error, it can be frustrating. But, don’t worry; this guide will tell you how to fix the family information is not available error.

Family Information Is Not Available Error: Brief Explanation

An error occurs when your iPhone cannot fetch your Apple ID family information from the servers. You can solve this problem by restarting your device, signing in using the Apple ID, and resetting your iPhone.

What Does the “Family Information Is Not Available Error” Mean?

The family information is not available error occurs when you try to open the family management aspects of your iPhone.

Usually, you go to the Apple ID section of Settings, where you can find all the family details by going to the Family section. Alternatively, tap ‘Family’ from the Settings main menu. Either way, this page will show the user is in your Apple family. The page also shows the subscriptions and purchases you share via the Apple Family feature.

In some instances, however, you might see an extra message saying that family information is not available.

This is problematic because you cannot access any information about the family members or the resources that you have shared with these members.

You might come across this error for various reasons.

Reasons for the Family Information Is Not Available Error

Here’s a quick look at the common reasons for the “Family Information Is Not Available” error.

#1 Network Issues

Network issues are the most common reason why you see this error. When you go to the family section in iOS settings, the iPhone needs an internet connection to gather the information from Apple servers. So, if there is no stable internet connection, you cannot access family information.

#2 Improper Setup of Apple ID Family

Probably the second most common reason is the incomplete or incorrect setup of the Apple ID family. While setting up a family sharing is easy, there could be some bottlenecks when adding family members through multiple ways.

#3 Billing and Payment Issues

Sometimes, billing and payment issues with your Apple ID may cause problems while loading family details. In most cases, the family details should be available even when you have cut down an iCloud payment, but iOS can be tricky sometimes.

#4 Troubleshooting Family Setup Errors in iOS

You may come across problems while setting up your family in the first place. For a family to work within the Apple ecosystem, everyone should accept their invitations and agree to participate in the family. So if this is not set up, iOS cannot re-gather information about the family.

#5 Using Outdated Software

If you have been using your iPhone for some time, you know Apple devices require up-to-date software. So, if you are running an older version of iOS, your iPhone may have trouble accessing family information. It gives you some edge over security as well.

Now, I will tell you some ways to fix this problem.

How to Fix the Family Information Is Not Available Error on iPhone

There are no solutions dedicated to solving the “Family Information Is Unavailable” error on iPhone.

Method #1 Recheck Family Sharing Setup

The first step is to ensure that you have enabled family sharing on your iPhone. You can find this by going to Settings > Family. You should see the list of members and additional settings if the setup is complete.

On the other hand, if you do not see these details, you might come across a pop-up interface that will assist you through the family-sharing feature.

But if you left the setup process in between, you may not find either of these options. So, check the settings and check whether you can resume the setup process.

Method #2 Connect to a Non-Restrictive Wi-Fi Network

As I said, the family sharing section of iOS settings requires an internet connection to show you up-to-date information. So, network connectivity issues could be why you get the family information is not available message on your iPhone.

Ideally, this feature should work fine on both mobile data and Wi-Fi.

But to be safe, you should connect the iPhone to a non-restrictive Wi-Fi network. That is, the Wi-Fi network should not be metered or customized.

You should also consider turning off Wi-Fi and turning it back on.

I also recommend closing the settings panel from the multitasking drawer. After that, you can go to the Family Settings, which should work.

Method #3 Sign Out of the Apple ID

If the two methods above do not help you fix the error, you can try something with the Apple ID.

The idea is to sign out of your Apple ID on your iPhone and sign in back again. Now, you don’t have to worry about data loss at this point.

Thanks to iCloud backup, whenever you sign back in, the iPhone will restore all your settings as you want. If you are extra anxious, you can leave a copy of photos, videos, and other documents on the device.

To sign out of your Apple ID,

1. Open Settings
2. Tap the Profile Picture
3. Scroll down and tap Sign Out
4. Decide whether you want to keep a copy
5. Continue with the logout process

Once you have done that, your iPhone will ask you to sign in with an Apple ID. You can complete this process as you did during the iPhone setup.

Because this step will clear the cache and temporary files on your iPhone, it should be effective in getting rid of the error message. But if this process does not help you, you may need to make some on-device changes.

Method #4 Update Your iPhone

As I mentioned, all the versions of iOS can cause some error messages and other troubles.

The family information is not available, and the error is one of them.

Therefore, regardless of your iPhone, you should update it to the latest available version of iOS.

You can find it by going to Settings > General > Software Update.

Your iPhone will restart as a part of the software update, and once you have access to the device, you can go to Settings and Family, and the device should pull information without any issues.

Method #5 Check the Payment Options

If you have a paid subscription, you would have added some payment information to your iPhone, right?

Issues with these payment options and billing may also cause problems with the family-sharing feature.

It is expected if you are sharing an iCloud service with the entire family, such as the additional iCloud storage.

To solve this problem, go to Settings > Apple ID > Payment & Shipping to check whether you have a valid payment method.

Method #6 Reset Your iPhone

If all these five methods have not solved the issue, you must reset your iPhone.

This will help you in two ways.

1.  You must sign out of the Apple ID before completely resetting your iPhone. So, the device will not be connected to the Apple ID and the associated family for some time.
2. You also get rid of cache content that might cause problems loading family information.

You can start from a clean state and set up family sharing if you haven’t done it properly earlier.

If you still face the family information is not available error, you should contact Apple support.

How to Properly Set Up Family Sharing on iPhone

Here is the easiest way to set up Family Sharing on iPhone.

1. Open Settings > iCloud > Family Sharing
2. Your iPhone will show existing Family Sharing participants

• Tap the Add button on the top-right portion
• Choose the desired option and Share the invitation.

That wasn’t so tough, was it?

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

I understand that the family information error is not something pleasant that you want to see. But it is easy to fix, and you can get things sorted through a simple device restart.

If that doesn’t work, you have more than five methods to try.