If your child already has their own Google Account, you can add supervision and manage their parental controls with Family Link.
If your child, who is under the age of 13 (or the applicable age in your country), doesn't have a Google Account yet, you can create one for them and manage it with Family Link.
If your child uses a Pixel Tablet, you can create a Google Account without an email address and password for them.
If you add parental supervision to your child's existing Google Account and your child is above the applicable age in your country, you or your child can stop supervision at any time. If your child stops supervision, you'll be notified and your child's supervised devices will be locked temporarily.
Tip: Stopping supervision may work differently for children under 18 who live in Japan and use a Pixel phone.
Requirements
To add supervision to your child's existing Google Account, you need to:
- Have a Google Account yourself. If you don't have one you can create a Google Account at no charge.
- Be 18 or over or the appropriate age in your country.
Tip: The Family Link app works best on these devices and versions:
- Android devices with Android version 5+
- iPhones or iPads with iOS version 13+
- Chromebooks with version M69+
To let a parent supervise their existing Google Account, a child needs to:
- Agree to parental supervision.
- Live in the same country as their parent.
Add supervision
What to know before you start
Your child and their device must be nearby when you’re adding supervision to their account.
Important: If you need to provide consent for your child's continued use of their Google Account, the steps are different.
Start supervision on your child's device
Set up supervision from your child's Android device
Important:
- If your child uses a Pixel Tablet and is below 9 years old, you can create a Google Account for them without an email address and password.
- Your child will need to give you their consent when you set up supervision on their account.
- On your child's device, open Settings .
- Tap Google Parental controls .
- Tap Get started Child or teen Next.
- Select your child's account or create a new one for them.
- Tap Next Sign in with your (parent) account.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to set up supervision on your child's account.
Set up supervision on your child's Chromebook
- On your child's Chromebook, open Settings .
- Next to People Parental controls , click Set up.
- Follow the steps to set up supervision on the child's account. Your child will need to give their consent during the setup process.
Set up supervision from web or a non-Android device
If your child doesn't have an Android device, follow these instructions to set up supervision. Make sure to use your child's email and password.
Manage supervision and filter settings
You can manage parental control settings for your child's supervised devices with the Family Link app on your own (i.e. the parent's) device.
Install Family Link for parents
Parents can install Family Link for parents app on their devices to change parental control settings and remotely manage their child's supervised devices. To do so, you can download the app from the Google Play Store (for parents on Android or Chromebook) or the App Store (for parents on iPhones or iPads).
Manage your child's account, devices, apps and more
Once you've added supervision to your child's Google Account, learn more about what you can manage.
Stop supervision
Note: You can’t stop supervision until your child reaches the applicable age to manage their own Google Account.
To go to the child's account settings that you last visited in the Family Link app, tap the button below:
Stop Family Link supervisionTo stop supervision with a parent's device:
- On your parent device, open the Family Link app .
- Select your child's account.
- Tap Controls Account Settings Account supervision.
- Follow the on-screen instructions.
- Tap Stop supervision.
- On your child's device, open Settings .
- On Android versions 8.1 (O) and later, tap Digital Wellbeing & parental controls.
- On other Android versions, tap Google Parental controls.
- At the top right, tap More Stop supervision.
- To verify you are a parent, sign in or use your Parent Access Code.
- To turn off supervision, follow the on-screen instructions.
What parents can check and do with added supervision
Important: If you provided consent for your child's continued use of their Google Account, some supervision and account features work differently.
If you add parental supervision to your child's current Google Account, you can use Family Link to manage things like:
Account settings and control- Update some of your child's account settings
- Help your child sign in to other devices with their Google Account
- Manage settings like Web and app activity and Location History that control how Google collects and processes your child's data
- Control whether your child can give third-party apps and sites access to their account
- Approve app requests from Google Play
- Block apps that you don't want your child to use
- See which apps your child uses, and for how long
- Set daily screen time limits
- Remotely lock devices when it's time to study or sleep
- Block or allow sites on Chrome
- Turn SafeSearch on or off
- Manage what your child can browse, purchase or download on Google Play
Tip: Purchase approval settings apply only to purchases made through Google Play's billing system.
Google services and your child's Google Account
If your child has a Google Account, they can use a variety of Google services. Keep in mind that these services generally aren't designed for children.
What parents can't check or do
If you and your child choose to add supervision to their current Google Account, you won't be able to use Family Link to:
Important: Your child won't be able to stop supervision until they reach the applicable age to manage their own Google Account.
- Remotely check your child's screen
- Find your child's past searches
- Check your child's Chrome browsing history
- Check or reset your child's account password
- Read your child's emails or messages
- Listen to your child's calls
- Delete your child's account
- Choose a new screen lock password on your child's device
- Erase the data on your child's device
- Block your child from stopping supervision
- Link your child's account to Google Home
Tip: Regular accounts can connect to Google Home with the Google Home app on their own device.