Windows 11 Parental Controls Set Up And Management [Guide]

Windows 11 Parental Controls is a useful tool for parents to set up a child’s account, restrict online access, manage screen time, set age filters, monitor search activity, impose restrictions on making unauthorized purchases, block unwanted and inappropriate content, and more. Here is a step by step guide with instructions to complete Windows 11 Parental Controls set up on your computer.

In Windows 11, guardians have the option to establish an account for their offspring, enabling them to oversee their children’s actions both on gadgets and the internet, ensuring their well-being.

Obtain reports and receive weekly email updates detailing your family’s engagements, aiding comprehension of how privacy configurations contribute to judicious device utilization within the household.

Moreover, deploy the Microsoft Family application for remote tracking of activities.

While Windows 11 varies from its predecessor, Windows 10, across multiple domains, numerous measures for parental oversight persist unchanged.

You will need administrator access to your computer via a parental control to set up parental controls in Windows 11.

This article will walk you through a simple method to set up parental controls on Windows 11, including steps to limit your child’s access to online sources, apps, games, websites, and more.

Table of Contents

How Do I Limit My Child’s Access To Computer?

First of all, to set up Windows 11 parental controls, you and your child will both need to have Microsoft accounts. Yours is a parent account, and a child’s account is tied to yours.

Using the parent account, you can enable or disable parental controls and receive reports to keep track of your child’s activity.

How To Set Up Parental Controls On Windows 11:

It’s important to make use of parental controls on a Windows 11 PC to keep your children safe online. Here’s what you’ll need to do to use parental controls on Windows 11.

Important: Turn on the administrator account or ensure your account has administrator privileges.

Here’s how to set up parental controls in Windows 11:

Step 1. Right-click on the Windows icon on the taskbar.

Step 2. Open the Settings app. Alternatively, press the Windows key + I keyboard shortcut.

Step 3. In Settings, click Accounts on the left side. And then click Family & other users on the right.

Step 4. Hit the Add account button next to the Add a family member option.

Step 5. Now skip adding a new user account. Instead, click the Create one for a child link.

Step 6. Enter your child’s account credentials, if they don’t have an account yet, create a new one for them. For that, type in an email address, password, name, a birthday, and hit Next when done.

Note: If you aren’t already logged into your own Microsoft account, you will have to do so first. Parental Controls are not available if you don’t have a Microsoft account.

Step 7. When the account is set up, you will get a message informing you that the account creation was completed successfully.

Step 8. That’s it.

The child account will now be linked with your Microsoft account, and pop-up will appear confirming that the process is finished.

How To Use Windows 11 Parental Controls:

Here’s how to manage parental controls in Windows 11 to control screen time, block websites, set age filters, monitor activity, and more.

After setting up your child’s account, you can then limit access to apps and games in addition to receiving weekly reports about their activities.

Tip: Parents of multiple children can make one account for them all to share or set up multiple accounts and then tailor parental controls for each child. If you have multiple child accounts, use the method described below to access the settings for each account, even though our example has a single child account for illustration purposes.

Follow the steps below to use parental controls in Windows 11 and add different types of restrictions:

Step 1. Go to Settings > Account > Family & other users.

Step 2. Click change account type (they’re set as a Standard user by default, not Admin) or Block sign in.

Step 3. Click the Manage family settings online or remove an account option.

Step 4. This will take you to the Microsoft Family Safety site. Here, you’ll need to sign in with your Microsoft credentials.

Step 5. In the Your Family section, click your child’s account icon located to the right of yours.

Step 6. Once done, you’ll get access to different options to manage your child’s account.

Step 7. This is the Windows 11 parental control settings page, where you get an overview of settings for screen time, apps and games, blocked websites with Web filters, etc.

Step 8. Click Screen time to set screen time limits for your child.

Step 9. The following is the Windows 11 screen time management page. Click Turn limits on for a specific device, or click the Use one schedule on all devices toggle to set universal screen time limits across all devices. This includes Windows, Xbox, iPhone, and Android.

Step 10. Click a day to set screen time limits. Set the desired screen time limits and the hours your child should be able to use the computer and hit Done.

Step 11. Next, click Content filter to limit your child’s access to websites and apps.

Content filters help you filter out inappropriate websites. For example, if your child comes across a filtered site, they need the parent’s permission to access it.

Step 12. On the content filters page, click the Filter inappropriate websites and searches toggle if it isn’t enables already. To grant access to specific websites, click the Only use allowed websites toggle.

Step 13. Click Add a website to include a website for access to a specific site.

Step 14. Type the website address, and click +.

Step 15. Similarly, you can also add restrictions for apps here. For that, scroll up and click Apps and games.

Step 16. Click the Apps and games rated up to age menu, and select the age limit to allow your child to access appropriate apps.

Step 17. If you child wants to use a specific app, you will receive a notification. Approve the app, it will show in the allowed apps section of this page. Also, you can allow and block specific apps. To allow automatically block app, click Remove.

Step 18. Likewise, you can set spending limits for your child, or prevent them from purchasing apps. To do that, click Spending.

Step 19. On the spending settings page, Make sure both toggles are on if you want to approve any purchases in the Microsoft Store and if you want to receive an email any time your child downloads an app or game. And if you’re going to give them an allowance to spend, you can click Add money and add funds to their Microsoft Store wallet.

Step 20. That’s all.

Note: The final open, Find my Child, is a link to the Microsoft Family Safety app, Download that app, currently only available for Android, if you want to use the Find my Child feature.

How To Open Family Options From Settings

You can also access Family Options from the Windows Security page. To do so, open the Start menu, type windows security and select the top result.

Now click the Family Options button on the left panel. Click the View family settings link to access the Family Options page.

You can also turn on Web and search filters that will block inappropriate content from sites via other browsers, not just Edge.

How To Disable Parental Controls In Windows 11?

To deactivate any of the parental restrictions, simply navigate to the online Family Settings management or utilize the account removal choice in the Settings menu (consult the methods above).

Subsequently, designate the child’s account for which you wish to disable parental controls, and proceed to undo any previously enforced limitations.

Discover More:

Download And Install Microsoft Family Safety App:

For ease of, Microsoft created the Family Safety app, which can be used with Windows 11 and across devices.

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.

To set up Family Safety:

Step 1 – Download and install the app on all devices you want to include. It’s free unless you want additional features like location and driving alerts.

Step 2 – Sign in to each device using your family members’ Microsoft details. Then, you’ll be able to monitor activity across devices and use the same features outlined in the instructions above.

Final Words:

Enhancements in parental controls within Windows 11 surpass those of prior Windows iterations, providing an expanded array of options to safeguard your children. For instance, configuring parental controls in Windows 10 presents a more cumbersome and less direct process. Employing the aforementioned steps will give you more control over your child’s online exposure and activities to ensure their safety.