Kids tend to get curious easily over the content they find on the internet. This can be a problem if the content is not meant to their age (like adult content, for instance). A parental control app can help you to prevent your kids from accessing inappropriate content by blocking certain websites. In Windows 10, you can set parental controls without installing an additional app. This article will show you how to use this feature.
Not only you can use the parental control feature of Windows 10 to prevent your kids from accessing the content they should not access, but also manage screen time, set the use of certain apps (like gaming apps), and so on. The following are the detailed things you do with the parental control feature of Windows 10:
- Monitor your kids’ activities
- Manage screen time
- Limit the app use
- Restrict content
- Monitor your kids’ location
To set up parental controls in Windows 10, you will need access to your kids’ email account (the Microsoft account they use to login to Windows 10). Or, you can also create a new account for this supervision purpose.
Adding your kid’s account
Note: We suggest you to create a new Microsoft account first for this purpose. Visit this page to create a new Microsoft account.
First off, open the Windows Settings window by clicking the gear icon on the start menu.
Click Accounts on the Windows Settings main window.
On the next window, select Family & other users on the left panel and click the Add a family member button to add the kids you want to monitor (you can add multiple kids).
A pop-up will appear, asking you to enter the email addresses of your family members. Since your purpose is to monitor your kid, enter the email address of your kid and click the Next button. Make sure to select the Add a child option before clicking the button.
A confirmation button will appear as you click the Next button. Simply click it and Microsoft will send the invitation email to your kid’s email address. Login to your kid’s email and find the invitation email. Open the email and click the Accept Invitation button.
A confirmation page will appear as you click the Accept Invitation button. Click the Join the family button to confirm.
As you have finished the steps above, you will have a new user account on your Windows 10 system. You can give this account to your kid you want to monitor.
Accessing the parental control settings
To access the parental control settings, return to the Windows Settings window and select Accounts. Click the Manage my Microsoft account button and you will be taken to a Microsoft page.
On the Microsoft page (“Your family” page more precisely), select the account (your kid’s account) you want to monitor/set the restrictions to.
Setting up screen time, content restriction, app use and son on
On “Your family” page, you will be able to monitor your kid’s activities, manage screen time, set content restrictions and so on. You can also add a family member from this page.
- Monitor your kid’s activities
The first thing you can do on “Your family” page of Microsoft once you added your kid’s account is checking your kid’s activities. To do so, click the Activity tab beneath your kid’s account.
Enable the Activity reporting option. Once this option is enabled, you will able to see the screen time, browsing history, and app use on this page.
- Manage screen time
Microsoft allows you to create a healthy habit for your kid by managing the screen time. You can manage how long you allow your kids to use their devices each day. Microsoft allows you to set a specific time each day. To start to manage your kid’s screen time, click the Screen time tab and enable the Windows 10 option.
Specify how much time can your kid has each day and when can they use the device. Each day has two options: a total time limit and access schedule.
- Time limits can set from zero to twelve hours in half-hour increments. There is no limitation on total access time by default.
- The default access schedule is between 7:00 am and 10:00 pm. Clicking on the blue bar will allow you to set one or more custom access schedules per day.
- Set content restrictions
To prevent your kid from both using an appropriate app and accessing inappropriate content, you can go to the Content restrictions tab and enable the Block inappropriate apps, games & media and Block inappropriate websites options.
To allow/disallow your kid from using the apps rated for certain ages, click the dropdown menu.
You can see the standard content ratings for the age limit you set for your child by clicking the View allowed ratings link beneath the dropdown menu.
To prevent your kid from accessing inappropriate websites (such as adult websites), you can enter the websites on the available box under the Web browsing section.
Final words
There are lots of third-party parenting control apps out there you can use to monitor your kids’ activities with their Windows 10 devices. If you only need basic monitoring as we covered above, Microsoft already provides a feature you can use. This feature is not exclusively intended for Windows 10 devices, though. You can also use this feature to control the use of Xbox on your kids.