Turn off parental controls

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

If you think that your children are already adults for movies and apps 18+, this guide will help remove restrictions.

How to disable parental controls at the operating system level

Windows

The OS has built-in access controls for children of different ages: 6+, 12+, 16+ and, in fact, 18+ (no restrictions).

In Windows 10, adults can see what their child has been doing on their computer, limit app downloads by age, manage their use of the Edge browser, and see their browsing history. Finally, limit children's PC time and in-app purchases.

In Windows 7, parental controls work in a similar way, although there are fewer functions.

How to disable

You can provide your child with "adult" rights in Windows 10 online. Select the account you want in your family settings, go to “” and turn all switches to the “Off” position.

Another option for Windows 10 is to remove the child from the family group. To do this, go to, select "Family" and the desired account. Click "More options", then - "Remove from family group." After that, the child will have an account, but you will no longer be able to manage his purchases on the Web and track activity. And he, in turn, will lose access to family subscriptions and other shared services.

In Windows 7, you can turn off parental controls directly on your computer - without the Internet. In the control panel, find "User Accounts and Family Safety" → "Parental Controls", and below under "Select a provider" switch to "None". Then click on the child's account and in the "Set parental control" line, turn the toggle switch to the "Off" position.

macOS

The Apple operating system allows you to create an account with parental controls. It restricts the installation and launch of programs, access to sites, videos, the use of app stores, operating hours, privacy on the web, such as searches, transmission of GPS coordinates and more.

How to disable

Go to the "System Preferences" menu, select the "Users and Groups" item, select the desired user and uncheck the "Enable Parental Controls" option. You will have to confirm the action with a password.

You can also remove individual restrictions. Go to the System Preferences menu and click Family Sharing (for macOS Catalina) or iCloud → Family Sharing (for macOS Mojave). Select the child's account and remove the restrictions in the necessary tabs ("Programs", "Web", "Stores", "Time", "Privacy", "Other").

iOS

Family sharing tools make iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch safe for children. This allows you to restrict the installation and launch of applications, as well as purchases in them, the time of using the device, access to sites, searches through Siri, receiving messages, viewing calendars, locations, and much more.

How to disable

Find "Screen Time" → "Continue" in the settings and select the child's name in the "Family" section. Scroll down and tap "Turn off screen time", confirm the action by entering the code-password.

If you want to cancel certain parental control functions, you will need the corresponding Screen Time menu items:

• Slide the Idle Mode switch to the inactive state.
• Remove all restrictions in the Program Limits section.
• Proceed to Privacy and Content Restrictions. Place the switch in the inactive state.
• In the menu "Purchases in the iTunes Store and App Store" in the first three paragraphs, select "Yes", at the bottom for the item "Request a password" - the option "Do not require".

In the menu "Content and privacy" → "Content restrictions" set the maximum permissions for all items

Android

Google has developed a special application called Family Link for managing children's accounts. It is relevant primarily for Android smartphones and Chromebooks. There are several age groups: 3+, 7+, 12+, 16+, 18+ and the "No Limit" option.

Family Link helps you set up your device usage time, actions on Google Play, work in Chrome and Google Search (including the Google Assistant voice assistant), watching videos on YouTube, launching Android applications. In the program, you can prohibit the transfer of geolocation, access to application history, the use of a Google account for authorization in third-party services, and more.

You can use Family Link to set up sign-in on iPhones and iPads, in browsers, and on platforms where parental controls can't restrict content. But in this case, children will need to obtain permissions in the application on the parent's device.

Family Link →

How to disable

Google approves Age restrictions in Google accounts: you cannot turn off parental controls in a child's account until he turns 13 (age for Russia). But you can change the password for his account or delete his account altogether. To do this, launch Family Link, select the child's account, go to "Account Information" and at the bottom click "Delete Account". On the next page, check all the boxes to confirm the action, and click "Delete account" again.

To turn off parental controls in Family Link for a child who is already 13 (at least according to the date of birth in the account), select the desired account in this application and enter the "Account Information" section. At the bottom of the screen, navigate to the "Turn off parental controls" line. Then check the box that you understand the consequences of your actions, and again click "Turn off parental controls."

Then you will be asked to fill out a questionnaire - tell about the reasons. It's not obligatory.

Also, upon reaching the age of 13, the child has the right to independently disable parental control. To do this, go to Family Link, open the "sandwich" menu in the upper left corner and select the "About parental control" item.

At the bottom of the screen, click on the line "Disable parental controls." In the next window, check the box and click on the disable button again. Remember that in this case, Google will block the child's device - for a day or until the parents unblock it.

How to turn off parental controls in individual apps

Play Market

In the official store for Android, parental control helps to automatically restrict a child's rights to install applications. There are several age groups: 3+, 7+, 12+, 16+ and 18+. There is also an option without any restrictions.

How to disable

Go to the Play Market settings and select the "Parental Control" item (if it is active, it will be marked "On" next to it).

Change the position to Off.

To disable parental controls, you will need to enter the PIN code that was set during setup.

You can also change the age limit in the settings. In this case, the control will be formally enabled, but it will not be able to prohibit anything.

Kaspersky Safe Kids

An application that allows you to set restrictions on the phone of a mom or dad for a child's device. Age categories: 3-6, 7-10, 11-13 and 14-17 years old. When creating an account, the application will ask for the child's year of birth.

In the free version, you can limit the time you use the gadget and launch programs, as well as filter online content - but only in the Chrome browser. In the paid (Premium) version, you can also determine by GPS where the child is, find out about the battery charge level, monitor social networks. In addition, the subscription allows you to receive real-time alerts when children are trying to gain access to prohibited content.

The child can use a device with Windows, macOS, iOS or Android. The application must be installed on both gadgets (child and parent) and select the appropriate roles for the accounts.

How to disable

We show on the example of Android. For other operating systems, the logic is the same.

The easiest way is to turn off activity tracking permanently. To do this, you need to log into your account, move to the "Parents" menu and select the appropriate item in the list.

A radical method is to remove the application from the child's device. Before uninstalling, Kaspersky Safe Kids will ask you to log into the parent's account - enter an e-mail and password. Then open the "Parents" menu, find the "Uninstall application" item and confirm the action.

Note that you can't just drag the application shortcut to the trash can. It is also impossible to stop its work from the application menu, clear the cache or get rid of individual components.

You can also go to the site, select a child in the "Children" menu and disable protection on his devices.

Youtube

If your child is under 13 and has this information in his Google account, you can install YouTube Kids. This is a special version of the platform that allows you to restrict access to "adult" videos with scenes of violence, abusive language, and so on.

There are three age categories: toddlers (up to 4 years old), preschoolers (5–7 years old), and older children (8–12 years old). For the rest, the usual YouTube app. There is also a "Only approved content" mode.

The only problem is that many let-plays (video game walkthroughs) often contain obscene words. And children are very upset that such videos are not available on YouTube for Children.

How to disable

YouTube Kids is an application that works entirely under parental control. You can only delete it and put a regular YouTube - then the Family Link settings for the child's account will be taken into account.

In the "YouTube Kids" itself, only a change of age category and the item "Only approved content" are available - if you activate it, you can enable viewing of ready-made video selections or select videos manually. To enter the settings, you have to solve an example for knowing the multiplication table or another simple task.

Thus, a child who already knows how to search and install applications should block this opportunity by other means. Otherwise, it will download regular YouTube and will not use the secure version.

TikTok

The popular app in March 2020 also has a parental control function. Adults can choose who is allowed to send private messages to the child, or completely disable the function of receiving messages. There is also a ban on viewing unwanted videos and a time limit for using the application.

By the way, if a child indicated his real age in TikTok and is under 16, then the section with personal messages is disabled by default. But this service, of course, does not ask for a passport.

How to disable

Log in to the TikTok app from the parent's account and in the settings (open by tapping on the icon with three dots in the upper right corner), select the "Family settings" option.

For a child's account, move all items to the "Disabled" position.

Another option is to untie the child's profile from yours. The Unlink button is also found in the Family Settings menu.

You cannot perform these steps from a computer, although you can watch videos on TikTok.