Here is a full guide on how to set up and use parental controls in Windows 11. Windows 11 is generally available for everyone with a lot of improved features. It has also made it easier to set up different parental control options.
The built-in parental control features in Windows 11 enable you to limit activities on your child’s account. This includes setting up screen time, limiting access to websites, apps, and games, as well as imposing restrictions on making purchases. For those who are wondering how to get started, this guide is for you. In this post, we are going to a detailed procedure to use parental controls in Windows 11.
How do I limit my computer access to my child?
For limiting computer access to your child, create a child account and then set up various limitations using the dedicated options. To know the detailed procedure, check out the full guide below.
How to Set up and Use Parental Controls in Windows 11
Here are the two major steps to set up parental control on your Windows 11 PC:
- Create a Child Account.
- Set up and configure parental controls to limit access.
1] Create a Child Account
Firstly, you need to create a child account for your kid for whom you want to set up parental control in Windows 11. Do note that both the parent and the child account need to have a separate Microsoft account. While creating a new child account, you will be asked to create a new Microsoft account to associate with the child’s account. Now, here are the main steps to create a Child account on Windows 11:
- Open the Settings app on Windows 11.
- Click on your account from the top or go to the Accounts tab.
- Tap on the Family & other users option.
- Press on the Add account button next to Add a family member.
- Select the Create one for a child option.
- Enter the email address for the child’s account and press Next.
- Type in the password and press Next.
- Enter a name and tap on Next.
- Select the child’s country and enter the birthdate and press Next.
Firstly, open the Settings app by pressing the Windows + I hotkey. Then, tap on your account name from the top-left corner or simply select the Account tab from the left panel to open up the Account settings.
Under the Account settings, select the Family & other users option to create a child account. You then need to click on the Add account button which is present right next to Add a family member. This will open up a Microsoft Account dialog window.
Read: How to Set Parental Controls on Netflix
In the Microsoft Account dialog window, tap on the Create one for a child option highlighted in the below screenshot.
After that, create a new Microsoft account for your kid. Simply enter the email ID that you want to create and use and press the Next button.
Next, you have to enter the password that you want to associate with the new account. Simply type in your password and then press the Next button.
Now, you need to enter the child’s name for whom the account is being created.
Then, select the country/region and enter the birthdate of the child. the birthdate basically enables Windows 11 to impose automatic restrictions based on age.
See: Safeguard your kids from adult content using Clean Browsing
Finally, press the Next button and the child account will be created and associated with your account.
In case you want, you can change the account type or block sign-in for the created child account in the future by going to your Account Settings.
Read: How kids bypass and get around Parental Controls.
2] Set up and configure parental controls to limit access
After creating a child account, you need to set up parent control configurations to block certain websites and other content. Here are the main steps to set up parental controls in Windows 11:
- Go to Settings > Accounts > Family & other users.
- Click on the Manage family settings online or remove an account option.
- Select the child account for which you want to set up parental controls.
- Set Screen time limit.
- Configure Content filters to limit websites, apps, and games.
- Turn on spending reporting and other spending restrictions.
Firstly, go to the Settings > Accounts > Family & other users option as we did in the first part. After that, select the Manage family settings online or remove an account option.
You will be taken to the Microsoft Family Safety page in your default web browser. On this page, select the child account for which you want to set up parental controls.
Now, on the Family Safety page of your child’s account, you will see different tabs on the left panel including Screen time, Content filtering, and Spending. You can set up each of these settings one by one and as per your requirements.
So, first, go to the Screen time tab and enable the Use one schedule on all devices toggle to configure screen time limits.
Read: Family Safety Screen Time Limits not working on Windows PC.
You will now be able to set the screen time limit for each day. If you want to keep the same schedule for every day, you can do that too by selecting the Everyday option.
Read: Download and Use Microsoft Family Safety app for Windows 11
Simply click on a particular day and then select a time limit. It also lets you edit or add multiple schedules to let the child use the account only for that specific time interval. To add a new time schedule, click on the Add a schedule option and specify the time interval for the usage of the child account. This way, you can add multiple time intervals. Ste up the screen time limits and press the Done button.
Next, go to the Content filters tab and in the Web and search section, turn on the Filter inappropriate websites and searches toggle. This will basically enable SafeSearch with Bing and block any mature content on a child’s account.
Other than that, you can use the Only use allowed websites option in case you want to allow specific websites only.
You can click on the Add a website (+) button present under Allowed sites, to add websites that you want to allow on the child account. Similarly, you can block access to particular websites by using the Add a website (+) button present under Blocked sites.
Read: How to blacklist or block websites in Chrome, Firefox, Edge browsers
Additionally, you can turn on the Turn on activity reporting option to see and monitor searches and web activity on your child’s account.
Then, move to the Apps and games section in the same Content filtering tab. Here, you can select an age limit to allow age-restricted apps and games only on your child’s account.
In case your child asks to access a particular app, you will be prompted for the same. You can allow or disallow the requested access.
If you want to allow access to an automatically blocked app, you can click on the Remove button under the Blocked Apps section.
You can now move to the Spending tab where you can turn on the activity report for your child’s spending on the device. For that, enable the Turn on activity reporting toggle in this tab.
Plus, you can also prevent your child from making any purchases, set spending limits, and turn on the spending notifications. You can also check payment methods from here.
Microsoft also offers a Find your family on a map feature that enables you to check the real-time location of your child or some other family member using the Family Safety mobile app. This app is available for free for iPhone and Android.
How do I disable parental controls in Windows 11/10?
To disable any of the parental controls, just go to the Manage family settings online or remove an account option in Settings (refer to above methods). After that, select the child’s account for which you want to turn off parental controls and then, undo any restrictions that you have imposed previously.
See: Good Digital Parenting Tips and Challenges to be overcome when working from home
How do I set parental controls on my computer?
You can easily use parental controls on your Windows 11 computer. Just make sure you are on the administrator account and then you can easily set up parental controls on your PC. Make a child account and then use the Manage family settings online or remove an account feature from the Settings to limit screen time, websites, apps, games, and spending. We have discussed the detailed procedure below; let us check out. You could also use a free Parental Control software.
How do I set parental controls on Google Chrome?
To set up parental controls on Google Chrome, you can use some dedicated Chrome extensions. Some of the good parental control extensions for Chrome include MetaCert, Blocksi, and WebsiteBlocker. You can add any of these extensions to your Chrome browser and then set up parental controls. You can also configure parental controls on other web browsers.
How to set up a kid friendly Windows 11 device with a child account?
To set up a kid-friendly Windows 11 device with a child account, you can go through the aforementioned steps. As Windows 11 includes this option internally, there is no need to opt for third-party apps to get it done. Once the Child account is created, you can limit access to various features and options as per your requirements.
Hope this post helps you configure and use parental controls in Windows 11.
Related read: Microsoft Family Safety Parental Control for Windows 10.
