Can someone else in your family see your texts? Here's the fix

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(Image credit: Christine Romero-Chan / iMore)

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Change which Apple ID is used
Disable an email address for iMessage

If someone in your family member can see your iMessages, the chances are it's because you're sharing an Apple ID. Thanks to the magic of iCloud and the Apple ecosystem, Apple devices can share information allowing you to view things like your messages, calendar, and more across multiple devices. However, if someone else in your family is also using your Apple ID, they might have access to information you didn't mean to share such as Messages.

This typically happens because, at some point, you all wanted to share content you bought from the iTunes store, including apps, games, music, movies, TV shows, and more. Unfortunately, if you don't set it up carefully, iCloud, FaceTime, and iMessage can all come along for the ride.

But there's a fix! Log into iCloud and iTunes separately on each device and set up Family Sharing. First, you'll need to make sure everyone has their own, unique iCloud account. If you don't have one for yourself, make sure to create a new Apple ID now.

Once that's done, you can start to separate everything out and make sure everyone is only getting the iMessages they're meant to on their best iPhone, including the upcoming iPhone 14.

Change which Apple ID iMessage uses on iPhone

Once you have a separate Apple ID for each person's device, you can fix the problem with others seeing messages meant for you.

Open the Settings app.
Select Messages.
Select Send & Receive.

Change iMessage Apple ID, showing how to open Settings, then tap Messages, then tap Send & Receive — (Image credit: iMore)

Tap the Apple ID at the bottom of the screen.
Tap Sign Out.

Change iMessage Apple ID, showing how to tap the Apple ID at the top of the screen, then tap Sign Out — (Image credit: iMore)

Tap Use your Apple ID for iMessage.
Log in with your Apple ID and Password.
Tap Sign In.

Change iMessage Apple ID, showing how to tap Use your Apple ID for iMessage, then tap Sign In after entering your Apple ID credentials — (Image credit: iMore)

Make sure everyone in your family that was previously using the same Apple ID follows these steps.

Disable an email that you can be reached at in iMessage

If there are any contacts associated with iMessages that you don't want to appear in your Messages app, you can disable it.

Open the Settings app.
Select Messages.

Remove email address from iMessage, showing how to open Settings, then tap Messages — (Image credit: iMore)

Select Send & Receive.
Tap the email address that you would like to disable from your device. The check mark next to it will disappear.

Remove email address from iMessage, showing how to tap Send & Receive, then tap the email address you want to disable for iMessage so that the check mark disappears — (Image credit: iMore)

Other devices will still be able to receive iMessages at that email address. Make sure everyone in the family that was previously using the same Apple ID does the same.

Make your messages your own

As great as it is to have everyone using Apple devices under one roof, problems may arise if you are all sharing the same Apple ID. That's why it's important for everyone to have their own individual Apple ID, so things like this don't happen. Plus, everyone likes some privacy, right?

Thankfully, the fix is pretty easy, and you can update your iMessage info at any time. Doing so shouldn't affect Family Sharing either, so you and your family can still share things like calendars, app and game downloads, subscriptions, and others if you want to. But for things like Messages, ensuring you're using your own Apple ID means everyone has their own privacy.

Christine Romero-Chan was formerly a Senior Editor for iMore. She has been writing about technology, specifically Apple, for over a decade at a variety of websites. She is currently part of the Digital Trends team, and has been using Apple’s smartphone since the original iPhone back in 2007. While her main speciality is the iPhone, she also covers Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac when needed.

When she isn’t writing about Apple, Christine can often be found at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, as she is a passholder and obsessed with all things Disney, especially Star Wars. Christine also enjoys coffee, food, photography, mechanical keyboards, and spending as much time with her new daughter as possible.