How to turn off in-app purchases on an iPhone

2 min read · 6 steps · Updated 2 October 2026

Short answer

Open Settings, tap Screen Time, tap Apps & Websites and tap App Store. Tap In-app Purchases and choose Blocked. Screen Time has to be switched on first. Set a Screen Time passcode, so the block cannot be lifted by whoever is holding the phone.

Games and apps sell coins, lives and subscriptions with one tap. Blocking in-app purchases stops surprise bills, most of all on a phone a child uses. The switch is part of Screen Time.

Menu names are from recent versions of iOS. On older versions some entries sit one level higher or lower.

Step by step

  1. Turn on Screen Time

    Open Settings and tap Screen Time. If it is off, switch it on first: how to turn on Screen Time on iPhone.

  2. Tap Apps & Websites, then App Store

    On older versions of iOS the path is Content & Privacy Restrictions, then iTunes & App Store Purchases.

  3. Tap In-app Purchases and choose Blocked

    From now on, apps cannot sell anything inside the app on this iPhone. Buying and downloading apps in the App Store itself is a separate setting on the same page.

  4. Set a Screen Time passcode

    In Screen Time, tap Lock Screen Time Settings and choose a code that is different from the code that unlocks the phone. Without it, anyone can switch the block off again.

  5. Or require the password for every purchase

    If you only want a hurdle, not a block, the same App Store page lets you require the Apple Account password for each purchase.

  6. For a child with their own Apple Account

    Use Ask to Buy in Family Sharing: the child taps to buy, and you receive a request that you approve or decline on your own iPhone. It is under Settings, Family, the child's name, Ask to Buy.

Good to know

The block covers purchases through Apple. A game that sends the player to a website to pay is not stopped by it.

Subscriptions that already run keep renewing. To end them: how to cancel a subscription on an iPhone.

A purchase that should not have happened can often be refunded: how to get a refund from Apple for an app or subscription.

The full set of controls for a child: how to set up parental controls on a child's iPhone.

In short: Settings, Screen Time, Apps & Websites, App Store, In-app Purchases, Blocked, plus a Screen Time passcode.

Sources
  • Apple Support: Turn off Apple In-App Purchases from Screen Time on your iPhone or iPad

Rules and prices change. Check the official source before you act.