Unable to edit Privacy Settings in Xbox due to being added to an unwanted family.

Peepabrine · Aug 3, 2022

I discovered this issue while attempting to join a friend on Minecraft this morning. We have previously played via LAN, so this was our first time using Xbox Live accounts. The loading screen kept displaying "Unable to Join World."

After some research, we discovered that the issue can be resolved by changing your privacy settings to allow multiplayer. Upon attempting to do so, I was redirected to a screen explaining that I cannot edit my settings due to being part of a family. I have never been in a family, the rest of my family doesn't even have Microsoft accounts! After a couple of hours of troubleshooting, I was unable to remove myself from said family, unable to edit anything about the family, and still unable to join the Minecraft world through the friends page.

I find this greatly annoying, and can only assume it has to do with Minecraft's new child safety filters. I created my account before I turned 18, but I don't see any reason by someone in their 20s should be restricted from playing with other people on a literal sandbox game! Does anyone in the community know any way that this can be fixed without deleting my entire account?

:)

Lucas Lauer

Hello, Peepabrine. Thanks for reaching out! My name is Lucas. I'm an Independent Advisor and a Microsoft user just like you. I'll be happy to assist you today.

Are you really an adult? Does your Microsoft account has an adult birthdate without you ever changing it? I ask because child accounts cannot change their Xbox profile privacy settings. Doesn't matter if they are on a family group or not. Also, changing your Microsoft account birthdate does not change your Xbox profile birthdate. So if you try to change it to make yourself an adult, it will not work. The Xbox profile birthdate is set when you create your Xbox profile and cannot be changed.

So please tell me if you are really an adult or you just changed your Microsoft account birthdate to be an adult. Or if you are an adult but your Microsoft account birthdate was wrong when you created it - which would also make your Xbox profile not be an adult now.

Waiting for your kind reply.

XBF Leo G

Hello AlexSharkey,

Thank you for posting on the Xbox forums. We understand that your account is getting redirected to a support article when you are trying to make changes on your account. This could be due to the account being a child account. We suggest using one of
your adult accounts, and adding the account that is having the issue to the
adult account's family. Once you have added the account to the family, you can use

the support article that you provided to change the restrictions on the child account. This should allow you to edit certain settings or change the gamertag. Be sure to let us know the results!

Aileen C_87

Hi there, and thank you for reaching out. My name is Aileen, and I am an independent advisor here to guide you. Just a quick reminder that this is a public community forum, so I don’t have access to accounts or tools to make direct changes.

If you're unable to play multiplayer on Minecraft Java Edition due to account restrictions, and your account is part of a Microsoft family group without an active organizer, that’s likely the issue. Child accounts can't change their own multiplayer or privacy settings; only a family organizer can do that through the Microsoft Family Portal.

If there’s no organizer listed, you won’t be able to update your settings until that’s resolved. Here’s a simple workaround:

Have a trusted adult create a new Microsoft account and sign in at https://account.microsoft.com/family.

They can then create a new family group and invite you account using your email.

Once you're added, they can go to your profile in the group and update the Xbox privacy settings to allow multiplayer gaming.

More on setting up privacy for multiplayer here:

https://support.xbox.com/help/family-online-saf...

Please let me know if you need any further assistance. Looking forward to your response.

XBF Leo G

Hello UnknitBuzzard21,

Thank you for posting on the Xbox forums. We understand that you are unable to purchase Xbox Game Pass on your son's account due to account restrictions. Is your son playing on an Xbox One or Xbox 360? A child account may have it's ability to
purchase items restricted by a parent account. You must have a parent account and

put the child account in a family. Once the child account has been added to the family, you can go to the

online privacy & online safety settings with the parent account and allow the child to complete a purchase. After the purchase is completed, you can log back in to the online privacy & online safety settings with the parent account and restrict any purchases
again. We hope this helps!

XBF Leo G

Hello Shxncus,

Thank you for posting on the Xbox forums. We understand that you're unable to play Minecraft: Pocket Edition with you friends due to your Microsoft account's online privacy and safety settings. We have a support article that explains how to locate the

online safety and privacy settings through the Xbox website. You will see online safety and privacy settings for Xbox One/Windows 10 and Xbox 360. You will want to look through both settings to make sure nothing is hindering you from connecting to other
players. Make sure you save any changes you make and try playing the game again. Be sure to let us know the results
Shxncus!

Unable to edit Privacy Settings in Xbox due to being added to an unwanted family.