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Having children use your Mac can be worrisome since they might be exposed to inappropriate content. To prevent such risks, Apple has incorporated a range of parental controls in macOS that allow you to restrict the content they see and their usage time.
Learn how to create a child account and set up parental controls on your Mac to keep the little ones safe while using macOS.
Create a Child Account
The first step is to create a separate account for your child so that any restrictions you apply do not affect your personal browsing or app usage. There are several ways to do this:
- Go to System Preferences > Users & Groups and add new accounts from there.
- If you are using macOS Mojave or earlier, go to System Preferences > Parental Controls and create a child account by following the instructions.
The best way to protect your child is to use the Family Sharing feature as it allows you to manage settings from all of your Apple devices.
Use Parental Controls
Now that your child account is set up, it is time to turn on parental controls.
macOS Catalina
If you are using macOS Catalina, go to System Preferences > Screen Time and select your child’s account from the drop-down list in the sidebar. You can now use the Downtime, App limits, and Content and privacy options to change the restrictions.
Click the Options button in the bottom left corner to activate Screen Time. You can then use Share on different devices and Use Screen Time Passcode to set combined time limits and prevent children from changing the restrictions.
Downtime
You can set the times when the Mac will be locked and not available to the person. Enable the feature and choose either Every day or Customization options and set the hours.
App Limits
You can control how much time your children spend each day on certain apps or app categories, and you can choose certain apps/genres and apply daily time limits.
Always Allowed
This setting overrides downtime and app limits and allows access to certain apps at all times.
Content and Privacy
These settings allow you to determine what kind of content your child will see and what they will not. You can limit adult websites and search results, explicit texts and phrases in movies and music, and whether you want your child to play online games or not.
macOS Mojave and Earlier
To activate built-in features to keep your children safe, go to System Preferences > Parental Controls and select Create a new user account with parental controls. Then, follow the instructions to set up an account and select the new account in the sidebar to apply the necessary settings.
The options are similar to those mentioned above, including detailed controls for the apps and web content, daily limits, and other safety features.
By following these steps, your child should be able to use their Mac without encountering the harmful online content. However, it is best to keep an eye on them and learn about the dangers that come with the benefits of modern technology.
If you need extra protection, check out the best parental control apps for iPhone and iPad and the best parental control software.
FAQs
1. How do I turn off parental controls on my Mac?
To turn off parental controls, go to System Preferences > Parental Controls and select the user account for which you want to disable them. Click the Disable Parental Controls button to turn it off.
2. How do I restrict content on my child’s iPhone?
You can restrict content on your child’s iPhone by going to Settings > Screen Time and enabling the feature. From there, you can set Downtime, App Limits, Content and Privacy Restrictions, and more.