YouTube Kids and YouTube supervised experiences: Viewing options for families
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You can decide what YouTube experience is best for your family. Use the chart below to learn the differences between a supervised account on YouTube and the YouTube Kids app.
| YouTube Kids | Supervised experiences for pre-teens and teens | |
|---|---|---|
| What is it? |
A separate app that's a safer and simpler experience for children. Comes with tools for parents and caregivers to guide their children's viewing journey. Learn more at youtube.com/kids. |
Pre-teens: A parent-managed version of regular YouTube with limited features and digital wellbeing protections. Comes with content settings for pre-teens and older. Learn more about pre-teen supervised experiences. Teens: A voluntary supervised experience of regular YouTube that parents or teens can set up. Parents get insights into their teen's channel activity. Learn more about teen supervised experiences. |
| Who is it for? | Children whose parents want to hand-pick content for them to watch. Children whose parents want to choose content for them to watch based on three age-based content settings:
|
Pre-teens: Children under 13 (or the relevant age in their country or region) whose parents decide that they're ready to explore YouTube with parent-selected content settings applied. Teens: Teens over 13 (or the relevant age in their country or region) who are using YouTube but still want some supervision. |
| How much content is available for my child? |
Includes a smaller selection of videos than a supervised account on YouTube. The amount of available content changes according to the content setting that you choose (in order):
|
Pre-teens: Includes more videos and music than our separate YouTube Kids app. The amount of available content changes according to the content setting that you choose:
Children with the Explore more or Most of YouTube content setting can read video comments. Teens: All of YouTube, except age-restricted content. |
| What's different about each content setting? |
The YouTube Kids app offers content settings that align to different ages. Preschool aligns with ages four and under. Younger aligns with ages 5–8. Older aligns with ages 9–12. Parents can also define profiles for their children's viewing to hand-pick the videos that they have access to. Learn more about YouTube Kids content settings. |
Pre-teens: Supervised accounts offer content settings that generally align with content ratings for viewers ages 9+, 13+ or most of YouTube. Doesn't include age-restricted content. Learn more about content settings for families using supervised experiences. Teens: There aren't content settings for teens. |
| Can I decide exactly what videos my child sees? | You can hand-pick only the exact videos that you want your child to have access to. Learn more. |
Pre-teens: You can select the content setting for your child's Google Account, then YouTube does the work to appropriately filter out undesired videos. You can also block channels. If you find a video that you believe is inappropriate, you can report it. Teens: No, you can't decide what content they see. |
| How can I set screen-time limits for my child? | Use the YouTube Kids app to directly define screen-time settings or use the Google Family Link app to manage screen-time limits for your child. | Pre-teens and teens: If your child's Google Account is supervised with Family Link, you can use the Google Family Link app to manage screen-time limits for your child's supervised devices. |
| Is a Google Account for my child required? | No, a Google Account isn't required. |
Pre-teens: Yes. Learn how to create a Google Account for your child under 13 (or the relevant age in their country/region). You can manage your child's Google Account with Family Link. Teens: Yes, your teen needs a Google Account and will need their own YouTube channel. |
To learn more about creating a pre-teen supervised account on YouTube, go to Get started with supervised accounts. You can also learn more about supervised experiences for teens.
If you want more info about YouTube Kids, take a look at the YouTube Kids Parental Guide.