How to set up parental controls on an Android phone

2 min read · 7 steps · Updated 2 October 2026

Short answer

On a phone with Android 17 or later, open Settings, tap Parental controls and tap Set up Parental controls PIN. Choose a PIN of at least four digits and add a recovery account. Then set a daily screen time, downtime, app limits and filters for websites and app stores.

Recent Android versions have parental controls built into the phone itself, protected by a PIN that only the parent knows. For more than one device, or to see where the child's phone is, Google's Family Link app adds remote control from the parent's phone.

Menu names below are from Google Pixel phones and Google's own apps on a recent Android version. Samsung, Xiaomi and other brands rename some of them.

Step by step

  1. Update the phone

    The built-in controls need Android 17 or later with the latest update installed. On an older phone, use Family Link, described at the end.

  2. Open Settings, Parental controls

    Tap Set up Parental controls PIN.

  3. Choose the PIN

    Enter at least four digits and confirm them. Pick a number the child does not know and cannot guess, not a birthday.

  4. Add a recovery account

    Enter a Google Account of your own. If you forget the PIN, you can reset it with that account.

  5. Set screen time and downtime

    Screen time is the most the phone can be used in a day. Downtime blocks it at set times, such as bedtime or school hours.

  6. Limit or block apps

    App limits give single apps a daily time. Blocked apps cannot be opened at all.

  7. Turn on the filters

    Web filters remove explicit results from search and block explicit websites. App store filters limit the Play Store and other stores to content for the child's age.

Good to know

For control from your own phone, tap Get Google Family Link in the same menu and enter the PIN. Family Link manages several devices, shows the location of the child's phone and has a School Time mode.

A child under the age set by your country needs a Google Account that a parent creates and supervises. Family Link takes you through that.

Filters miss things. Agree on rules together, and look at the phone with your child from time to time.

Time limits for your own apps: how to set a daily time limit for apps on Android. The same on Apple phones: how to set up parental controls on a child's iPhone.

In short: Settings, Parental controls, set up the PIN, recovery account, screen time, downtime, app limits, blocked apps, web and store filters. Family Link for remote control.

Sources
  • Android Help: Set up parental controls on an Android device

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