Manage your child's Google Play apps

Learn how to manage your child's purchase approvals on Google Play.

You can set up parental controls to restrict the content your child can download or purchase from Google Play.

1. Open the Family Link app .
2. Select your child.
3. Tap Controls Content restrictions Google Play.
4. Under "Content restrictions," choose your filters:
   • Apps, Games, Movies, and TV: Choose the highest maturity level of content you want to allow for download or purchase.
   • Music and Books: Choose whether you want to restrict downloads or purchases of explicit content.

Important: When you turn on your child’s Play Games profile, your child gets signed in automatically when they open a supported game.

1. On your device, open the Family Link app .
2. Select your child.
3. Tap Controls Content restrictions.
4. Tap Google Play Google Play Games.
5. Select Approve child’s Play Games profile or Delete child’s Play Games profile.

Tips:

• The Play Games setting only displays on your parent device once your child requests consent.
• Supervised account profiles can’t record and share their gameplay.
• Supervised account profiles can’t have friends on Play Games.
• Supervised account profiles will be given an auto-generated gamer tag.
• Not all games support automatic sign-in with a Play Games profile for children.

If you haven’t done so yet, you can make a Play Games profile:

1. On your child’s device, go to Android Settings .
2. Tap Google All services Settings for Google apps.
3. Tap Play Games Create a profile.
4. Select your gamer name and avatar.
5. Tap Save.
6. To approve the new profile on the child’s device, tap Ask in person.
7. Enter your parent password.

To switch to another Play Games profile:

1. On your child’s device, go to Android Settings .
2. Tap Google Settings for Google Apps.
3. Tap Play Games Sign in account.
4. Change your profile for:
   • All games
   • A subset of games

Parental controls don't change the games you see in the Play Games app, including games you've bought or recommended games.

If you try to install a game using the Play Games app, you’ll be taken to the Play Store app where your parental controls settings may restrict access.

1. Open the Family Link app .
2. Select your child.
3. Tap Manage settings Google Play.
4. Tap the type of content you want to filter.
5. Choose how to filter or restrict access.

Tip: You can also manage this setting by clicking on your child's name at g.co/YourFamily.

If your child has access to an app you don't want them using, follow the instructions above to block the app.

If you want to approve each app your child downloads or purchases, change your child's purchase approval settings.

Important: Apps that you previously installed or approved, or those available through your Play Family Library will not require additional approval to download.

You can set up Google Play Family Library to share eligible paid apps with your family.

Important: If you set up parental controls for your child, they won't see any apps that exceed the parental control settings you chose.

Your child will see this error if they try to download a Google app that isn't available for children under 13 (or the applicable age in your country).

Using Family Link, you can manage third-party sites and apps with access to your child's account.

If you don't want to monitor your child’s app activity, you can turn off the additional Family Link app activity setting.

Important: If you turn off this setting, your child's Family Link app activity data will be deleted.

1. Open the Family Link app .
2. Select your child.
3. Tap Controls Account settings.
4. Tap Privacy settings Family Link app activity.
5. Follow the on-screen instructions.

• Turn off app notifications on your child's Android.
• Turn off app notifications on your child's Chromebook.