How do I set up parental controls on a PS5?

To set up parental controls on a PS5, you first give your child their own child account inside your PlayStation “family”, with you as the family manager. Once that’s done, you can set daily play time, limit games by age rating, switch chat on or off and cap spending, from a web browser, the console itself, or the free PlayStation Family app on your phone (PlayStation). Play time and age limits are tied to your child’s account, so they apply on a PS4 too if your child uses one. Set aside about twenty minutes.

These steps are based on PlayStation’s current help pages. Menus can move a little between system updates, so if something looks different, the linked pages are the place to check.

Before you start: the family account

Everything hangs off a family: a group of PlayStation accounts with one adult in charge, called the family manager. You need your own PlayStation account first, and when you add a family member, you become the manager (PlayStation). There can only be one family manager, though they can make another adult a parent or guardian with the same powers.

To add a child on the web (PlayStation):

1. Sign in to Account Management on playstation.com and select Family Management.
2. For your first child, select Set Up Now > Add a Child. For another child, select Add Family Member > Add a Child.
3. Follow the on-screen steps. You’ll enter your child’s name and date of birth, and you can set the controls now or later.

To add a child on the PS5: sign in, select your profile picture at the top right of the home screen, then Switch User > Add User > Get Started > Create an Account, and follow the steps.

Already got an account? If your child set one up on their own, you don’t have to start again. In the UK and Ireland, you can send a family request to their existing account from Family Management, using their sign-in email and date of birth. They then accept it from their own account (PlayStation).

A good habit from Internet Matters: set the account and age limits up before your child starts playing, rather than reining things in afterwards (Internet Matters).

Step 1: Choose a restriction level

Each child account has a restriction level that sets several controls at once. PlayStation lists three presets: Child, Early Teens and Late Teens or Older (PlayStation).

The Child preset is the strictest. It limits PS5 games to those rated for your child’s age, restricts web browsing, chat and shared content, blocks PlayStation VR, and sets the monthly spending limit to zero. Once you change any single setting, the level becomes a custom one, and you can adjust each setting yourself:

• Age level for games and apps: a PS5 game will only start if its age rating is the same as or lower than your child’s age.
• Web Browsing: on or off.
• Communication and User-Generated Content: controls chatting and messaging with other players, and seeing or sharing videos, pictures and text.
• Use of PlayStation VR and PlayStation VR2.
• Blu-ray Discs and DVDs: age limits for films played on the console.

To change them on the PS5, go to Settings > Family and Parental Controls > Family Management, select your child, then choose the control. On the web, open Family Management, select your child and choose Edit next to the setting.

Restricting communication blocks chat with everyone, friends included. Internet Matters notes you can still let specific games through using Allowed Games, which is handy if your child plays one game with their cousins or classmates (Internet Matters).

Step 2: Set play time

PlayStation’s play time controls have three parts (PlayStation):

• Restrict Playtime: turns the limits on.
• Playtime Duration and Playable Hours: how long, and between which hours, your child can play. These can be the same every day or set for each day of the week, so weekends can be a bit longer.
• When Playtime Ends: Notify Only shows a message; Log Out signs your child out.

On the PS5: Settings > Family and Parental Controls > Family Management, select your child, set the Time Zone first, then choose Playtime Settings and Save.

Your child gets a warning at the top of the screen as time runs low. From the PS5, they can choose Ask for More Playtime, and you get a notification to approve or decline. Many families find that a calmer way to handle “five more minutes” than shouting up the stairs. “Log Out” can interrupt a game mid-match, so it’s worth agreeing together whether a notice is enough.

Step 3: Check spending

The monthly spending limit starts at zero for child accounts, so nothing can be bought from the PlayStation Store unless you raise it (PlayStation). Purchases come out of the family manager’s wallet (PlayStation).

One catch: this covers the PlayStation Store. Internet Matters points out that some in-game spending has to be limited inside each game’s own settings (Internet Matters). Our guide on stopping children spending money in games and apps covers that side.

Step 4: Lock the console’s own settings

Some settings belong to the console, not to an account. Internet Matters suggests going to Settings > Family and Parental Controls > PS5 Console Restrictions, setting a PIN, and setting User Creation and Guest Login to Don’t Allow, so a new account can’t be made to get round your limits (Internet Matters). In the same section, you can set your Country or region so the age ratings match the PEGI system used here.

Bonus: the PlayStation Family app

Once the family is set up, the free PlayStation Family app lets you do most of this from your phone. From the home screen, choose your child, then (PlayStation):

• Playtime: set the daily limit and hours, and answer requests for more time.
• Activity: see the last seven days, including their most-played games.
• Playing Now: see what they’re playing and its age rating.
• Requests: approve or decline when they ask to play a restricted game or use a chat feature.

What to do next

• This week: create your child’s account in your family and pick the Child or Early Teens level as a starting point. You can loosen things later.
• Download the PlayStation Family app and set a daily play time that fits your family, with a little extra at the weekend if that suits.
• Set the console PIN and turn off new user creation, so the limits can’t be side-stepped by a new account.
• Talk it through with your child before the first limit kicks in: what happens when the warning pops up, and when it’s fine to ask for more time.

Every family’s settings will look different, and that’s fine. The aim is for the console to do the reminding, so you get to stay the good guy.