Find step-by-step guides and learn how to activate parental controls to manage children’s devices, apps, and platforms to give them safer online experiences.
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Start with broadband controls – your home’s first line of defence. Set up controls on your broadband to filter inappropriate content across all devices connected to your Wi-Fi.
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Protect the devices they use – including tablets, smartphones, and gaming consoles. Activate device-level controls to manage screen time and app access.
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Add extra protection on the apps they love – many apps, games, and streaming services have built-in parental controls. Turn these on to manage what they can see and do.
Depending on your child’s device, you could opt for Google Family Link for Android tablets, smartphones and wearables to manage app access, set screen time limits and add device bedtimes remotely. It’s ideal for families using Android devices. See our device step-by-step guides to explore more options.
Depending on your device, there will be a range of ways to do this. In most cases you can find it built into the settings of your child’s device. If you’d like to get more advice on what features are available for different devices visit our Screen Time tools advice hub to get you started.
Parental controls can be quickly set up by going to the Settings menu and selecting the Screen Time option. Using the pre-set age settings, you can turn on parental controls in no more than 5 minutes. For detailed step-by-step instructions, visit our Apple Screen Time parental controls guide
If your child is using YouTube, make sure you create an account for them to help manage what they see. By default, accounts for children under 13 are automatically set with safety protections, while for those over 13 it can be managed using Supervised Accounts and Restricted Mode. For full guidance and step-by-step instructions, visit our YouTube parental controls guide.
Have regular conversations to help children deal with online issues and share their digital lives.
Use this tool to get a personalised online safety toolkit to help children benefit from the online world.