Add family member without another Microsoft account

While it might seem ridiculous currently, there are a lot of advantages when your kids have their own Gamertag account.

First of all, if they use your own (adult) Microsoft Account, the kids are regarded as adults by the service, and they can basically do everything: Spend your money to buy games on Xbox, contact complete strangers on the internet to talk to, play games unsuitable
for their age and so on.

Also, if kids get a bit older and start to play online and interact with other people online, they MIGHT get into a situation where offensive language is used back and forth, and you risk your own account getting suspended, if a kid of yours harasses or
offends someone else through your account. Therefore it's advisable that every kid has their own account for which they are responsible for.

When you create a child account for each and every kid (with a free email at Outlook.com for example), you can add these kids to your "Family" at
https://account.microsoft.com/family

That way you can set up restrictions on what they are (not) allowed to do on Xbox at
https://account.xbox.com/settings

You can also enforce screen time limits, or control what websites your kids are allowed to visit. And you can grant them an "allowance", so they can only spend a finite amount of money.

As for your original issue:

On the original Xbox 360 console you could also add Guest accounts, and they worked the same way as they do on the Xbox One. However, the software emulation of the Xbox 360 on the Xbox One has certain limits and not all features from the original console
are present.

So don't see it as a burden of having an additional email to keep track of, but a great security feature to keep your kids (and your wallet) more safe on Xbox.

Unfortunately, yes. Some games require an actual user with a Microsoft account to play with more than one person. For now, with my 6 year old, he uses my second gamertag. When he gets a lot older I'll set up his own gamertag.

That just sucks! Like I need another email to keep track off...

Unfortunately, yes. Some games require an actual user with a Microsoft account to play with more than one person. For now, with my 6 year old, he uses my second gamertag. When he gets a lot older I'll set up his own gamertag.

Hi Sole_Z,

Thanks for your post! To have an adult account treated like a child account, simply add the adult account to a Microsoft Family as a child. The Microsoft family will then treat said account as a child. For more information on adding members to families check
out: Add members to your Microsoft Family.

I hope this information helps, thanks again!

Kindly use an adult (organizer) account to change your Privacy Settings but if you're not yet in a Family Group, follow the steps below to add your account as a MEMBER.

To add someone to your family group:

1. Go to family.microsoft.com.

2. Sign in with your Microsoft account (parent/adult account), then select Add a family member.

3. Select Member.

4. Enter an email address or phone number for the person you want to add, then select Send invite.

Note: If the person you're adding is already part of another family group, they'll first need to be removed from that family group, or they'll need a new Microsoft account for your family group.

5. Have the person you invited to accept your invitation from the email or text message they receive. Or, in the Notifications section, select Accept now next to Pending member. You'll be signed out so the person you're trying to add can sign in to their account and accept the invitation.