What to Know
- Join friends, family, or coworkers on a collaborative photo album, and easily share your photos from group events and see others' photos.
- Here's how to accept a Shared Album invite: open the Photos app, tap For You, then tap Accept.
- Shared Album invite not showing up? Make sure you have Shared Albums enabled by going to Shared Albums in Photos.
Shared Albums let you add photos and videos to a collaborative photo album, but first, you have to know how to join a shared album. Here's how to accept a Shared Album invite, and what to do if a shared album invite is not showing up.
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How to Accept a Shared Album Invitation on iPhone & iPad
Have you been invited to an iCloud Shared Album? It's easy to join in! If you just received an invitation to a Shared Album, you should have a notification for it, but if not, it's still easy to accept any Shared Album invite you've been sent through the Photos app. We'll show you both paths to accepting an invitation here.
- Check your Notification Center for a Shared Albums notification. If you don't see a Shared Albums notification, move on to step 2. If you DO see this notification, skip to Step four.
![Lock screen with Shared Albums invitation notification marked]()
- If the notification has been cleared, open the Photos app.
![iPhone 13 Home screen, with Photos app marked]()
- Tap the For You icon at the bottom of the screen.
![Photos app with For You buttion marked]()
- You will find a Shared Album Activity section that includes invitations. If you tapped on the invitation notification, it should take you here. Just tap the blue Accept button for any albums you want to join.
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- After a moment, the Shared Album Activity section should update to show that you have joined the album. You can tap this message to open the album.
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- If you don't see Shared Album Activity or if the Shared Album is not showing up after accepting the invitation, tap on the Albums tab.
![Albums tab shared album photos app]()
- You'll see a Shared Albums heading, and you can tap See All to view any you have joined or created.
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Now that you have accepted the invite, you can find this album, as well as any other Shared Albums you have joined in your Albums tab, along with all your personal albums.
Shared Album Invite Not Showing Up
Not receiving an invite to Shared Albums? This is a common issue that some users encounter. In order to share albums or join other Shared Albums, you need to have the feature enabled. You can find it in the Settings app:
- Open the Settings app and tap Photos.
![Open the Settings app, and tap Photos.]( "tap photos in settings app")
- Make sure the toggle next to Shared Albums is green and to the right, indicating it is turned on.
![make sure shared albums is on if shared album invite not showing up]( "make sure shared albums is on if shared album invite not showing up")
FAQ
- Where do I find shared album invites? You can see shared album invites in your iPhone Notification Center and in the For You tab of your Photos app on your iPhone or iPad.
- Why am I not receiving a shared album invite on my iPhone? If you are not receiving a shared album invite, you might not have Shared Albums enabled, so you can't see the shared album invitation. To check this, open Settings, tap the Photos app, and make sure the Shared Albums toggle is on.
- Why is my shared album invite not working? If you or the other person doesn't have the Shared Albums toggle enabled, yhe shared album invite won't work. If it is enabled, you should check to make sure the sharing link hasn't expired, and resend the invitation if it has. As a final troubleshooting step, check for software updates and restart your iPhone.
Now you know how to find a shared album invite, and how to accept a shared album on an iPhone or iPad. If you are still having trouble and it seems like you cannot receive Shared Album invitations, check your cellular and Wi-Fi connection to confirm you can access the internet. Next, find out how to recover deleted messages, the best ways to share your photos and how to transfer photos to your computer!
