If your child is going to start using your home computer or you’re buying him his first computer, then you must get started with Microsoft family on Windows 10. It brings powerful parental controls that help monitor your child’s digital activities including the apps and websites they can use/visit and setting up time limits to prevent long-time computer usage.
Microsoft family works with your Microsoft accounts and comes with an “activity reporting” feature that sends you weekly reports on your child’s activities directly to your inbox. It looks superbly useful, right?
Alright then, let’s see how you can get started with Microsoft family and set up parental controls on Windows 10.
Log in to Microsoft family
Microsoft family is a service that connects family members and provides kids with a safe environment while using Windows 10 and Xbox One devices as well as Android devices running Microsoft Launcher. Moreover, you can schedule events on your family calendar and set up group family chat on Skype.
Follow these steps to set up your Microsoft family:
- Open the Start menu and click the Settings icon.
- Click on Accounts, then go to “Family & other people” from the left.
- Click “Sign in with a Microsoft account” under “Your family”, and log in with your Microsoft account (or create if you do not have one).
- Create member accounts
You can add distinct user accounts for your family members in Windows 10, allowing you to provide them relevant permissions per requirements. Then after, you can connect them all to your account with the Microsoft family.
Adult account
You can add an adult account to monitor activities, manage requests and family settings as well as change settings of the children’s accounts.
Here’s how you can do it:
- Click the link “Add a Family Member” under “Your family”.
- Now opt for “Add an adult” in the “Add a child or an adult?” dialog window.
- Type the email address of the child’s Microsoft account, then click Next. If your child does not have a Microsoft account, please ask him to create an account and then do this step.
Child account
You can create a child account that will work under the parental controls set by you using the features in Microsoft family. This account will help you keep your child safe and set a time limit for their computer activities. Moreover, you can monitor their online activities by signing up for a weekly report.
- Click the option “Add a Family Member” under “Your Family”.
- Simply just Choose an option of “Add a child” in the “Add a child or an adult?” dialog.
- Enter your child’s email address or click “The person I want to add doesn’t have an email address” if your child does not have an email address, and finally, click Next to create one for him/her.
Finally, confirm the name and email address if asked.
Note: Once your child logs in to his email account, he must accept the invitation to join your Microsoft family, else you will not be able to control his account.
Set-up parental controls
Once you are done with adding accounts for your children, you can see them as a list under “Family & other people” in the Settings. Let’s see how can manage the parental controls on your Windows 10 PC:
- Open Settings, click Accounts and then go to “Family & other people” on the left.
- Under “Family & other people”, click on the link “Manage family settings online” to open the Microsoft family’s configuration page.
- On the Microsoft family’s website, you will see all your family members listed under “Your family” along with the options to manage them.
- On the Microsoft family’s website, you will see all your family members listed under “Your family” along with the options to manage them.
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