How do I set up parental controls on my child's Android phone?

On an Android phone or tablet, parental controls come from Google’s free Family Link app. You give your child their own Google Account, link it to yours, and then manage time limits, bedtimes, app downloads and content filters from your own phone, which can be an Android phone or an iPhone (Google). Set-up takes about 15 minutes (Google).

Below is what to have ready, the settings worth doing first, and the one thing Family Link doesn’t cover. Google moves menus around between versions, so if a screen looks slightly different, the linked help page has the current wording.

Before you start

Google lists a few requirements (Google):

1. Your own Google Account. It’s free, and you need to be 18 or over (or the adult age in your country) and live in the same country as your child.
2. A phone for you running Android 6.0 or later, or an iPhone or iPad on iOS 16 or later. Download the Family Link app on it.
3. An Android device for your child running Android 6.0 or later, or a Chromebook. Family Link can’t supervise a child’s iPhone or iPad; for those, see our guide to Apple’s Screen Time.

Jargon check: a supervised account is just a Google Account linked to a parent’s, so the parent can manage its settings. Daily limits, bedtimes and app limits need Android 7 or later on your child’s device (Google).

Step 1: Give your child their own Google Account

This is easiest on a brand-new device. Google’s steps for a child under 13 are (Google):

1. Turn on your child’s device and follow the set-up screens.
2. When it asks you to sign in with a Google Account, tap Create account. If you don’t see that, tap More options, then For my child.
3. Enter your child’s name, birthday, email address and password.
4. Sign in with your Google Account, give parental consent, and choose their settings.

Have your child’s details ready before you start. Google may also ask for a card to confirm you’re an adult: you won’t be charged, though a temporary hold may appear for up to 48 hours.

If the device is already set up, Google’s advice is to remove the existing accounts, delete anything you don’t want your child to see, then add a new account and follow the same steps. If your child already has a Google Account, you can add supervision to it from the Family Link app instead. Google notes that families in the EU with a child aged 13 to 15 should use the new-device route.

Step 2: Set a daily limit

1. Open Family Link on your phone and pick your child at the top left.
2. Tap Screen time, then Time limits.
3. Turn on Daily limit, tap Weekly schedule, then choose a day and set the time.
4. To use the same limit every day, tap Apply to all days of the week, then Done.

(Steps from Google.)

Two handy things to know. Bonus time lets you add extra minutes for one day without changing the usual limit, which is useful for a long car journey or a rainy Sunday. And daily limits apply to each device separately, so a two-hour limit on a phone and a tablet means two hours on each.

Step 3: Set bedtime and school time

Family Link calls these Schedules (Google):

1. In Family Link, pick your child, then tap Screen time > Schedules.
2. Turn on Downtime (overnight, when the device locks) or School time.
3. Tap Weekly schedule to choose the days and the start and end times.

During a schedule, you can still let certain apps through, such as a reading app, under Allowed Apps. Internet Matters, the UK online safety charity, suggests setting downtime around bedtime to help children switch off, and building limits around schoolwork and responsibilities (Internet Matters). Even when the phone is locked, your child can still take calls and make emergency calls (Google).

Step 4: Approve downloads and purchases

This is the one that stops surprise bills.

1. In Family Link, pick your child, then tap Controls > Google Play.
2. Under Purchases & download approvals, tap Require approval for.
3. Choose All content, Paid content only, In-app purchases only or Never.

(Steps from Google.)

Internet Matters recommends All content, especially for younger children, so you see every new app before it lands (Internet Matters). One catch: approvals only cover purchases made through Google Play’s own payment system, so it’s still worth checking how a game takes payment.

Step 5: Set content ratings

1. In Family Link, pick your child, then tap Controls > Google Play.
2. For Apps & games, Movies and TV, choose the highest age rating you’re happy with. For Books, choose whether to block explicit content.

(Steps from Google.)

Your child simply won’t see apps above that rating in the Play Store. Apps already on the device, or ones you approved before, aren’t removed, so it’s worth a quick look through what’s installed.

The gap to know about

Family Link manages Google’s own services and the device, but it can’t filter what happens inside other companies’ apps, such as games or social media. Internet Matters advises checking each app’s own parental controls as well (Internet Matters). Internet Matters also suggests setting content restrictions across Google’s own products, including YouTube.

Two more tips from the same guide: don’t share your Google password with your child. If they need you to approve something on their device, use the Family Link parent access code instead, which expires after 30 minutes.

What happens as they get older

When your child reaches 13 (or the age that applies in your country), Google emails you both. Nothing changes unless your child chooses to update their account, and under-18s need a parent’s approval to stop supervision (Google). That’s a good moment to sit down together and loosen the settings that no longer fit.

New in Android 17: controls on the device itself

On phones running Android 17 or later, there’s also a simpler option in Settings > Parental controls: a PIN-protected daily limit, downtime, app limits and web filters set on the device itself, with no Family Link needed (Google). It suits a younger child’s tablet. Family Link adds school time, location sharing and managing everything from your own phone, and Google offers a Get Google Family Link button to switch over later.

What to do next

• Tonight: download Family Link on your phone and check your child’s device is on Android 7 or later.
• This week: set up their account, turn on purchase approval for All content, and agree a daily limit and bedtime together, so the rules don’t arrive as a surprise.
• Then: look at the games and apps they use most and switch on their own controls too.

Every family’s settings will look a bit different, and that’s fine. Family Link works best alongside regular, relaxed chats about what your child is doing online, not instead of them.