MASTER PARENTAL CONTROLS

SETTING UP CHILD ACCOUNTS

To take parental control of a child’s account, it first needs to be configured correctly. To do that, go to Start > Settings > Accounts > ‘Family & other users’. Click ‘Add a family member’ and create as many accounts as you need for the members of your family – just follow the on-screen instructions, indicating that you would like to create an account for a child.

ENSURE ACCOUNTS ARE LIMITED

If you’re setting up a child account from scratch, it will be as a Standard User, so the account can’t be used to make potentially damaging changes to Windows. If you’re using an existing account, check its status. In the ‘Family & other users’ window ensure none of the accounts are set as Administrators. If any are, click them, then ‘Change account type’ and select Standard User.

ADJUSTING FAMILY SETTINGS

While we refer to ‘parental controls’, Microsoft prefers to use the phrase ‘family settings’. Any restrictions you wish to place on the user accounts you have created need to be put in place through the Family section of your Microsoft account. To access this, just click the ‘Manage family settings online’ link on the ‘Family & other users’ page of Settings.

IMPLEMENTING BUYING RESTRICTIONS

When you visit the ‘Your family’ section, you should see a list of any accounts you’ve created. Beneath the name of the account you want to impose parental controls on, click ‘Content restrictions’. You can start by using the first two switches to prevent a child buying things through their account without permission, and to send out emails when purchases are made.

SOFTWARE RESTRICTIONS

Scroll down the page slightly to the ‘Apps, games & media’ section and ensure the ‘Block inappropriate apps, games & media’ setting is enabled. Use the drop-down menu to choose the age rating you are happy for your child to use. Bear in mind that ratings are somewhat subjective, and you may not necessarily agree that a particular title is suitable for your child.

CUSTOMISE APP RESTRICTIONS

It may be that an app you feel is suitable for your child is blocked by an age restriction – but raising the limit may not be appropriate. For example, Microsoft blocks some web browsers because they don’t offer the same control options as Edge, but you can lift these restrictions. In the ‘Always blocked’ list, click Remove next to any app you’re happy for your child to use.

RESTRICT WEB BROWSING

Letting your child have unfettered access to the web can be scary – but you can put limits in place. If there is a site you’d like to stop your child from visiting, enter its URL in the ‘Always blocked’ section and click ‘+’. To ensure the sites you approve of can be accessed, enter their URLs in the ‘Always allowed’ section. Tick the ‘Only allow these websites’ box to limit web access further.

LIMIT COMPUTING TIME

You can place a time limit on how long your child is able to use the computer for by scrolling to the top of the page and clicking the ‘Screen time’ heading. Flick the toggle switches to the On position for any computer or console listed that you would like to place limits on, and then use the timetable that appears to indicate when screen time should be permitted.

LIMIT SPENDING

In Step 4, we mentioned how it is possible to require parental approval before any purchases can be made, but there are more money-related options in the Spending section. Here you can add some money to your child’s account balance so they can shop online without having to pester you for money at the time of purchase, and without the risk of spending too much.

MONITOR ACTIVITY

As well as placing restrictions on your child, you can also monitor what they do online and on your PC. Head to ‘Recent activity’ and you will be able to see not only which apps and games they’ve used, but also the sites they have visited and the searches they’ve conducted. There are shortcuts to impose restrictions if you see anything that you feel requires action.