Games › Steam Families
Steam Families parental controls
✅ Last verified: Oct 14, 2026 against official sources.
📣 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 →
Steam: Steam Families
| Text chat | Not confirmed |
| Voice chat | Not confirmed |
| DMs / whispers | Not confirmed |
| Friend requests | Child must be on your Friends list to be invited |
| Parties / joining | Not confirmed |
| Online status / location | Not confirmed |
| Images, links, gifts | Not confirmed |
| Parents can see | Not confirmed |
| Parents can't see | Not confirmed |
| Block / report | Not confirmed |
| Defaults by age | Not confirmed |
⚠ Steam's community/chat restriction options for child accounts not yet verified.
Sources: [1] · "Not confirmed" means we couldn't verify it in official sources yet.
- Steam's parental controls work through a Steam Family. Per the UK charity Internet Matters, a family can have up to 6 members.
- Steps (Internet Matters): Steam → Settings → Family → create a family → Invite a Member → invite your child as Child (they must be on your Friends list) → Manage your Steam Family → turn on "Enable parental controls for this user".
⚠️ Couldn't fully confirm: Steam's own help page wouldn't load for us. These steps come from Internet Matters (internetmatters.org/parental-controls/gaming-consoles/steam/) and still need checking against Valve.
Official source: https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/054C-3167-DD7F-49D4
A full step-by-step hub for this game is coming once every step is verified.
Next stepCompare chat controls across every game →
📬 Monthly "what changed" email for parents: coming soon. Game and app settings move constantly; we'll summarize changes once a month. Parents only, no kids' data, ever. Meanwhile, follow updates via RSS.