Use Instant Hotspot, Auto-Join Hotspot, or Family Sharing to connect to your Personal Hotspot

You and members of your family group can use these features to connect to your Personal Hotspot without needing to enter the password.

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How to connect to your Personal Hotspot

Connect to your Personal Hotspot manually using the Instant Hotspot feature, or automatically using the Auto-Join Hotspot feature.

Connect manually using Instant Hotspot

With the Instant Hotspot feature, you can connect to your Personal Hotspot just like you would any other Wi-Fi network, but you aren't asked to provide the Wi-Fi password of the Personal Hotspot, and you don’t need to turn on Personal Hotspot on the device providing it.

  • On Mac, click Wi-FiWi-Fi in Control CenterControl Center or the menu bar, then choose the name of the iPhone or iPad providing your Personal HotspotPersonal Hotspot.

  • On iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Apple Vision Pro, go to Settings > Wi-Fi, then tap the name of the iPhone or iPad providing your Personal HotspotPersonal Hotspot.

When connected to a Personal Hotspot, the Wi-Fi status iconWi-Fi status icon on your device changes to the Personal Hotspot iconPersonal Hotspot icon.

Personal Hotspot icon in macOS and iOS after connecting

Connect automatically using Auto-Join Hotspot

With the Auto-Join Hotspot feature, when no Wi-Fi network is available and your device is near the device providing the Personal Hotspot, your device can automatically connect to the Personal Hotspot or ask you to connect to it, depending on this Auto-Join Hotspot setting:

  • On Mac, click Wi-FiWi-Fi in Control CenterControl Center or the menu bar, then choose Wi-Fi Settings. Scroll down on the right and turn “Ask to join hotspots” on or off.

  • On iPhone, iPad, or Apple Vision Pro, go to Settings > Wi-Fi > Auto-Join Hotspot, then tap Ask to Join or Automatic.

When connected to a Personal Hotspot, the Wi-Fi status iconWi-Fi status icon on your device changes to the Personal Hotspot iconPersonal Hotspot icon.

How your family can connect to your Personal Hotspot

Set up Family Sharing so that your family can also connect automatically to your Personal Hotspot without needing to enter the password.

  1. On your device providing Personal Hotspot, go to Settings > Personal Hotspot > Family Sharing.

  2. Turn on Family Sharing. If you don't see this option, learn how to set up Family Sharing.

  3. Tap the name of each of your family members, then select Automatic to allow them to connect automatically when needed, or Ask for Approval to ask you to allow them to connect.

If Personal Hotspot isn’t working

If Personal Hotspot isn't working on your iPhone or iPad

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