Email for the whole family. Including those under 13

Level: Easy

It would be hard to find someone who doesn’t have an email address these days, it has become an integral part of our digital footprint. As stated by the pioneer of email Raymond Tomlinson, “I see email being used, by and large, exactly the way I envisioned”. Whether the use of email is a friend or foe, you can’t deny its importance and significance in the way we communicate. As so deservedly celebrated in the Internet Hall of Fame:

Tomlinson's email program brought about a complete revolution, fundamentally changing the way people communicate, including the way businesses, from huge corporations to tiny mom-and-pop shops, operate and the way millions of people shop, bank, and keep in touch with friends and family, whether they are across town or across oceans. Today, tens of millions of email-enabled devices are in use every day. Email remains the most popular application, with over a billion and a half users spanning the globe and communicating across the traditional barriers of time and space.

In this post, I cover the high-level steps you can follow to set up email accounts for your family.

As explained in the post on ecosystem , it is recommended you find your default ecosystem which will include the email service you will be using. Once you decide which ecosystem you are you can follow the steps below to setup email for your whole family.

Tips

Separate your work email from your personal email. This helps maintain work-life balance and reduces the risk of accidentally emailing your company about what you did on the weekend 😊

If you already have an email address different from your default ecosystem or your children do the recommendation is to move to your new email address from the old and then delete the old. It’s not difficult to move email addresses and in a future post, I will provide some tips on how you can do this. It is recommended as this will help you guide your own children on email usage and etiquette in a consistent and easy way.

1. Create Adult Accounts

Based on the ecosystem you have decided on and potentially the separate email account you prefer, follow the instructions below for the adults and those family members who are over 13.

Reminder, as per ecosystem, you might create or already have an email account. In this case, you would use this same email address when creating the account below. This is the case if your default ecosystem is Microsoft or Apple.

Create a Google Account

Refer to Create a Google Account

Create a Microsoft Account

Refer to Create a Microsoft Account

Create an Apple Account

Refer to How to create a new Apple ID

2. Creating account(s) for under 13

You might be thinking, my child is way too young for email. Having an account and email helps when setting up other aspects of your digital family and also help with the general management of your children’s digital landscape. There is the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule ("COPPA") which any company dealing with children need to ensure proper use of data from and about children under the age of 13. Note: There may be specific changes for your area or the services you consume, please consult the relevant information for your area or service.

You can follow either one of the below guides using the same ecosystem as above for the adult accounts.

Create a Google Account for your child

1. Refer to Manage your child's Google Account with Family Link for further information

2. Refer to Create a Google Account for your child

Create a Microsoft Account for your child

1. Refer to Microsoft family for further information

2. Refer to Add people to your family group

Create an Apple Account for your child

1. Refer to Apple Family Sharing

2. Refer to Family Sharing and Apple ID for your child