Share a home and devices in the Google Home app

Important: If you use the Nest app and haven’t migrated to a Google Account, you manage homes and people who share access to your home with the Nest app.

To manage people and permissions in the Google Home app, you must create a home. Once a home has been created, invite people to share control of the home and its devices.

For more convenience, share control of your home and devices with family and housemates. Everyone can get their own music and personal answers from Google Assistant devices. You can also save energy and make your home more secure when you set up automations that depend on whether someone is home or not.

Public Preview participants have more options for sharing permissions available to them. If someone from Public Preview invites you to share their home, you can accept. You don't need to be in Public Preview to accept, but you do need the newest version of the Home app.

Learn how Public Preview participants can manage people and permissions in the Google Home app.

Note: Permission changes made to your Google Home, such as adding or removing people from a home, may take up to 5 minutes to take effect.

Manage home members

To let other people, like family members or roommates, use the devices in your home, add them as home members.

Only invite people you trust to become home members. When someone becomes a member of a home, the following info and settings are shared with them:

Full access and control of devices and services

Add and remove other home members, including you.
Add new devices, like speakers, displays, or smart light bulbs.
Use and change the settings of the devices in the home.
Automatically link their media services, like YouTube, to speakers, smart displays, and devices that work with Google Cast in the home.

Home activity

Check activities and events from all devices and services linked to the home.

Contact information and home address

Change the address of the home.
Check the names and email addresses of everyone in the home.

Assistant features

Set up personal results, Voice Match, and Face Match on existing and new Assistant-supported devices.

Tip: Only the primary user of a Pixel Tablet can set up Voice Match and personal results.

You can't invite anyone using a:

Google Workspace formerly G Suite account
Google Account for children under 13 or the applicable age in your country or region.

Learn how to let your child use Google Assistant on your devices.

A maximum of 6 people can share a home.

Invite members to a home

Open the Google Home app .
If you have more than one home, tap Favorites .
At the top, select the home you want to edit.
Tap Settings Add Home member.
Enter the name or email address of the person you want to invite to your home.
Tap Next.
- The person you invite should receive an email with instructions.
Tap Next.
- Review the person’s access to your home.
Tap Send.
If your Google Family Group isn’t full and the person you’re inviting isn’t already in one, you should get the option to invite them to your Google Family Group.
- To invite them, tap Add to Family.
- To skip this step, tap No Thanks.

The person you invite should receive an email with instructions.

Tips:

You can have up to 6 members in a Google Family Group.
If the person you want to invite has already requested to join your home, instead of sending a new invitation, you need to accept that request.

Accept someone's request to join your home

When someone sends a request to join your home, you should receive an email with the invite request and a notification on your mobile device.

Follow the link in the email you received or tap the notification on your mobile device.
Choose an option:
- To invite a person to join your home, tap Continue.
  - You should find information about what’s shared when you add someone to your home.
- To reject their request, tap Decline.
To continue, tap Next.
Review the person’s access to your home.
Tap Send.
If the person you’re inviting isn’t already in your family group, you're asked if you’d like to add them. To invite them to your family group, tap Add to Family.
- To skip this step, tap No Thanks.

You can have up to 6 people in a family group. If you already have a full family group, this option doesn't appear.

Accept a home member invitation

Open the Google Home app .
Tap Favorites Inbox .
Tap your pending invitation.
Follow the in-app instructions to join someone’s home.
- To accept, tap Next.
- To reject, tap Decline.
Review what’s shared when you join a home.
Tap Agree.
Create a nickname for the home. This nickname only appears to you.
The next time you connect to the home’s Wi-Fi, to finish Google Assistant setup, open the Home app which adds you to the devices connected to the same Wi-Fi.

To let the Google Assistant read or show results specific to you, set up Voice Match and Face Match and choose to turn on personal results.

Remove yourself from a home

When you remove yourself from a home:

You no longer have access to the home and the devices and services associated with that home.
Other members continue to have access to the home.
Other members should no longer have access to the devices or services you set up, including Nest thermostats, alarms, locks or cameras. If you set up a Nest Cam with your Nest Hub Max, the Nest Hub Max won’t be available.
Exceptions: The following devices should still be available to other home members even if you remove yourself from the home.
- Google Pixel Tablet
- Google Nest Wifi
- Google Wifi
- Assistant-enabled speakers and displays
- Google streaming devices
You no longer have access to Nest Aware features, including video history.
Other members continue to have access to Nest Aware features.
Your Google TV account isn't removed from this home.
- You have to sign out of this account on this home’s Google TVs or in account.google.com under Security Your devices.
If you’re the only member of the home, the home gets deleted, including home data such as video history footage and thermostat settings.

To remove yourself:

Open the Google Home app .
If you have more than one home, tap Favorites .
At the top, select the home you want to edit.
Tap Settings .
Under the home name, tap the profile icons of home members.
Select your profile icon.
At the top right, tap Remove Leave home.

Remove other members from a home

When you remove members from a home:

They’re notified that they were removed from the home.
Their account isn't linked to the devices and they won’t have access to the devices or services in the home. Learn more about FAQs on Privacy: Google Nest.
Assistant-enabled devices such as Google Pixel Tablet and Nest speakers and displays, including those set up by the removed member, should remain in your home. These devices are no longer linked to the home member you removed.

Exception: Video history footage could be deleted and Nest Hub Max might get removed.
They no longer have access to Nest Aware features, including video history.
Your Google TV account isn't removed from this home.
- You have to sign out of this account on this home’s Google TVs or in account.google.com under Security Your devices.
If the member you remove from the home migrated their Nest Account and Nest devices like cameras and thermostats to a Google Account, those devices may be removed from the home. Data associated with their Nest devices and the home may be permanently deleted, including video history footage and thermostat settings.

To remove other members:

Open the Google Home app .
If you have more than one home, tap Favorites .
At the top, select the home you want to edit.
Tap Settings .
Under the home name, tap the profile icons of home members.
Select the profile icon of the home member you want to remove.
At the top right, tap Remove Remove.

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