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YouTube & YouTube Kids parental controls
Last verified: Oct 14, 2026 · official source
- Three options: YouTube Kids: a separate app for under-13s.
- Supervised kid account content levels: Three levels, roughly 9+, 13+, and "almost everything except 18+." Pick in Family Link → your child → What they can watch → Content setting.
- Teens: Shorts time: With a supervised teen account, parents can set Take a Break and Bedtime reminders and a limit on time spent scrolling Shorts.
📣 Communication controls (start here)
Who can talk to your child is the most important setting. Controls stack in layers: console/device → platform account → in-game. Set every layer, because one layer doesn't always control another. Communication Safety Hub →
YouTube (supervised): Family Link supervised account
| Text chat | Writing comments and live chat off for supervised kids |
| Voice chat | n/a |
| DMs / whispers | n/a |
| Friend requests | n/a |
| Parties / joining | n/a |
| Online status / location | n/a |
| Images, links, gifts | Uploads and channels off |
| Parents can see | Family Link settings |
| Parents can't see | Not confirmed |
| Block / report | Not confirmed |
| Defaults by age | Under 13: supervised or YouTube Kids |
Turn it fully off:
- Use a supervised kid account or YouTube Kids.
Sources: [1] · "Not confirmed" means we couldn't verify it in official sources yet.
iPhone / iPad: system-level communication
- Settings → Family → child → Allowed Contacts: choose who they can call, message and FaceTime, and require approval for new contacts.
- Settings → Family → child → Communication Safety On.
Covers Messages, FaceTime and Phone only, not chat inside games or other apps. Communication Safety blurs detected nudity, gore or violence. Under 13s need the Screen Time passcode to view it. Apple doesn't see the images.
Android (Family Link): system-level communication
- Family Link → child → contacts: "Only contacts I add" or "Contacts I add & limited groups."
Only applies to Google Messages, Google Dialer and Samsung Messages on watches. Other messaging apps aren't covered, so block them in Family Link if needed. If your child changes their default apps, the limits may stop working.
Parents also search: "YouTube parental controls on TV" · "YouTube parental controls block Shorts" · "YouTube parental controls time limits" · "YouTube parental controls iPad"
Three options
YouTube Kids: a separate app for under-13s. Supervised kid account: parent-managed regular YouTube for under-13s (or local age). Supervised teen account: voluntary link for 13+, giving insights and wellbeing tools rather than content filtering.
Supervised kid account content levels
Three levels, roughly 9+, 13+, and "almost everything except 18+." Pick in Family Link → your child → What they can watch → Content setting.
Turned off for supervised kids: uploads, Shorts creation, channels, live chat, comments (writing; reading also off at the youngest level), Super Chat, purchases of Movies & TV, personalized ads, and more.
Works on the YouTube app/website, eligible smart TVs, PlayStation, Xbox and Switch.
Teens: Shorts time
With a supervised teen account, parents can set Take a Break and Bedtime reminders and a limit on time spent scrolling Shorts.
⚠ Not yet confirmed: Google's help pages currently use two sets of names for the kid content levels: "Explore / Explore more / Most of YouTube" and "Older kids / Teens / Older teens" (the latter listing 16+ for the top level). Check which your Family Link app shows.
On TVs & streaming devices
- Roku: Create a 4-digit PIN at my.roku.com to restrict purchases, subscriptions and adding apps, plus ratings in The Roku Channel. source
- Fire TV: Settings → Preferences → Parental Controls, then set a PIN to protect ratings, purchases and apps. Separate from Prime Video's settings. source
- Apple TV: Settings → General → Restrictions, with a 4-digit passcode for purchases, apps, ratings and settings. source
What do TV-14, PG-13 and other ratings mean? →
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