Adding a Family Member

Question

Adding a Family Member

Rich 0

Hi

I am the admin on our Family group. We have a new laptop and I've added my profile but I'm stuck in an authentication loop trying to add my son (child profile).

I was able to add him in, but now I'm not receiving any verification codes to my mobile and his password isn't working. Because I'm not receiving any verification codes he can't change his password....

I've taken him off and re-added him, and waited for 24 hours in case I'd tried too many times. Do I need to be more patient or is there something else happening I need to address?

Thank you for any help!

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2 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Vikki-T 12,060 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi Rich,

Waiting longer may help if verification requests have triggered a temporary restriction, but since your son’s password is also not working, I would first separate the account sign-in issue from the Family group setup.

Please try signing in to your son’s Microsoft account directly at Microsoft account, without adding it to the Family group again. If the password is rejected or the verification code still does not arrive, use the Microsoft Sign-in Helper and follow the options provided for that account.

For now, avoid requesting multiple new codes, as repeated requests can prolong a temporary verification block. If another verification method is already associated with the account, such as a recovery email, try that instead.

Could you also confirm whether the missing code is being sent to verify your son’s account or your organizer account, and whether the displayed phone number ends in the digits you recognize? This will help distinguish an account-recovery issue from a Family invitation issue.

If the account cannot be recovered through the Sign-in Helper, you can contact Microsoft Support for account-specific assistance. This is a user-to-user forum, so contributors cannot inspect the account’s verification status or remove an account-side restriction. Thank you so much for your understanding.

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Rich 0 Reputation points

2026-10-13T08:05:51.3566667+00:00

Hi Vikki

Thank you for coming back so quickly.

I will try signing in to my son’s Microsoft account directly at Microsoft account, however; I haven't removed it from the Family group so far. I have added my account to a new laptop and then added his account to the laptop via settings. We can still access his account from the old laptop but we access this using a PIN, not his password. Does that make a difference?

I will avoid requesting multiple new codes, but would you recommend that I try and add another recovery method now and try that?

I can confirm the missing code is being sent to my mobile in order to verify my son’s account and I recognise the displayed numbers.

Based on your thoughts on the above I will contact Microsoft Support

Thank you for all your help.

Rich
Vikki-T 12,060 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-10-13T13:48:40.32+00:00

Hi Rich

Thank you for clarifying. Being able to access your son’s account on the old laptop with a PIN does make a difference. A Windows PIN is associated with that particular device, so it may still allow access there even if the Microsoft account password is not being accepted elsewhere.

There is no need to remove your son from the Family group again at this stage. If possible, while signed in on the old laptop, open a browser and check whether your son can access the Security section of his Microsoft account. If the account allows access, you can try adding another sign-in or verification method, such as a recovery email or Microsoft Authenticator.

However, if adding a new method first requires the same SMS code that is not arriving, please do not continue requesting codes repeatedly. In that situation, use the Microsoft Sign-in Helper or contact Microsoft Support to review the available support options.

When contacting Support, it may help to explain that the account remains accessible on the old laptop through its Windows PIN, but the Microsoft account password is not accepted and the recognized recovery phone number is not receiving verification codes.

I hope you’re able to restore access without having to make further changes to the Family group. Thank you so much for your cooperation.

Answer 2

This is most likely more than just waiting. Two issues in the symptoms match the documented causes:

verification messages may not arrive if the account is temporarily blocked for unusual activity or too many requests
a family invite can stay stuck if the child account is still pending or still associated with family membership state that needs to be cleared

Try this in order:

Check the family invitation status
- Sign in with the family organizer account at https://account.microsoft.com/family/.
- On the family member page, check whether the child shows as Pending member.
- If there is a pending invite, select More and Cancel invite.
- Send a fresh invitation.
Confirm the child account is not still tied to another family group
- A Microsoft account can only be part of one family group.
- If the child account is already in another family group, it must leave or be removed before it can join this one.
Add a different verification method on the organizer account if possible
- Go to the Microsoft account Security tab at https://account.microsoft.com/security.
- Select Manage how I sign in.
- Select Add a new way to sign in or verify.
- Add another available method such as a recovery email, Microsoft Authenticator, or a passkey.
- Microsoft notes that adding a new phone number may not be available for some personal accounts.
If verification codes are not arriving, avoid repeated retries
- Too many repeated requests can cause a temporary block.
- If blocked, try another verification method already connected to the account.
- Try another network, such as switching between Wi‑Fi and cellular.
- Wait at least 24 hours, and if needed wait longer, up to 1 week, without repeated attempts.
If the child can sign in to Windows but Family Safety is not linking correctly
- On the child’s device, verify the Microsoft account.
- Go to Start > Settings > Accounts and look for Verify.
- If Verify is not shown, open Microsoft Edge on the child’s device and use the family verification flow referenced in Microsoft’s Family Safety troubleshooting.
If the child account was added on the laptop, make sure it is a Standard user
- In Settings > Accounts > Family & other users or Other accounts, check the child account type.
- Set it to Standard user if needed. An Administrator child account can break or bypass Family Safety settings.

Based on the documented guidance, waiting only 24 hours may not always be enough if the account or verification method was blocked. The most useful next steps are to cancel any pending invite, resend it, use a different verification method if one is available, and stop repeated code requests while the block clears.