What is Microsoft Family? What parents need to know

Microsoft Family is a parental control software created by Microsoft to help parents manage their children’s online experience. Microsoft integrates it across all of its services, such as Xbox and Windows, allowing parents to monitor their children’s screen time, content access, and more.

The software is free and is available on Windows, Xbox, Android and iOS. You can have up to 6 family members under 1 account.

Microsoft Family requires each family member to have a Microsoft account, and parents then invite them to a Microsoft Family group that they control.

Once they set up the group, parents can begin customising settings and controls on their children’s devices. Parents can set specific restrictions for each device based on the child’s age and needs.

Microsoft Family gives parents a wide range of parental controls to help manage their family’s digital lives. These include:

• Content filtering: Parents can block specific websites and apps that they deem inappropriate for their children
• Managing screen time: Parents can set time limits on how long their children use devices and customise these limits for each specific device and app
• Activity reports: Parents receive weekly reports on their children’s screen time, what apps and websites they’ve visited, and what terms they have searched
• Spending limits: Purchasing controls include needing approval for every purchase, and an account balance so that children can not spend more than their parents have given them
• Location tracking: View where your children are currently through GPS on their device
• Driving report: If your child has started driving you can receive summaries on their driving performance to see if they are being safe in the car

• Wide range of parental controls
• Covers many popular devices, including Windows, iOS and Xbox
• Up to 6 family members under one account
• Free to use

Microsoft Family is a great tool for monitoring and managing your child’s online behaviour, but it still has its limits. While it can block access to websites, it cannot control how your child uses the websites they can access. This means it has no control or monitoring over the way your child uses social media. Setting parental controls on your child’s social media accounts can help remedy this limitation and keep them safe.

It also requires all children, even young ones, to have their own email addresses. However, you could just create an email and not give them access, but link it to their devices.

Microsoft Family cannot monitor macOS computers, so you cannot use it to manage your child’s activity if they use a MacBook. However, you can use a MacBook to manage other users activity.

Despite these small limitations, Microsoft Family is still a good way to keep your children safe online.