Childproof Your Windows 10 PC
BEING A PARENT IS STRESSFUL AND TIME- CONSUMING ENOUGH, without having to worry about what your child is using their (or your) PC for, or for how long. To save you from having to constantly monitor their use in person, Windows 10 includes a powerful collection of parental control options, which can act as your eyes and ears when you are busy with other things.
Using built-in parental controls, it’s possible to place restrictions on the websites that can be visited, the apps that can be run, and when the PC can be used. While you might expect the options to be configured in “Settings,” you need to visit your Microsoft account online, and from there manage all the user accounts you have set up on your PC and added to your family. This enables you to control settings from any Internet-connected device, and monitor your child’s PC use remotely. –MARK WYCIŚLIK-WILSON
1 SET 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 [ Image A].
2 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. However, if you’re using an existing account, you need to 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”
3 [ Image B]. ADJUST 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” [ Image C].
4 IMPLEMENT BUYING RESTRICTIONS When you visit the “Your family” section, you should see a list of any accounts that 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 whenever purchases are made.
5 SOFTWARE RESTRICTIONS Scroll down the page to the “Apps, games, & media” section, and ensure “Block inappropriate apps, games, & media” is enabled. Use the drop-down menu to choose the age rating you are happy for your child to use [ Image D]. Bear in mind that ratings are somewhat subjective, and you may not necessarily agree that a particular title is suitable for your child.
6 CUSTOMIZE APP RESTRICTIONS It may be that an app you feel is suitable for your child is blocked by an age restriction—but raising the age limit may not be appropriate. For example, Microsoft blocks some web browsers because they don’t offer the same control options as its own 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 [ Image E].
7 RESTRICT WEB BROWSING Letting your child have unfettered access to the web can be scary, but you can put limits in place. If there’s a site you’d like to stop your child from visiting, enter its URL in the “Always blocked” section, and click the “+” symbol. To ensure the sites you approve of can be accessed, enter their URLs in the “Always allowed” section [ Image F]. Check the “Only allow these websites” box to limit web access further.
8 LIMIT COMPUTING TIME You can place a time limit on how long your child is able to use the computer 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, then use the timetable that appears to indicate when screen time should be permitted [ Image G].
9 LIMIT SPENDING In Step 4, we mentioned how it’s possible to require parental approval before any purchases can be made, but there are more money-related options in the “Spending” section [ Image H]. 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.
10 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.