How to Set Up Google Family Link for a Child

Google Family Link is the parent app for a child’s Google Account and for a supervised Android phone or Chromebook. It can approve apps, set a daily time limit, and show the location of a supervised Android device. It cannot supervise an iPhone.

This guide is for a parent or grandparent setting up a child’s Android phone, and for an adult child walking them through it. Steps were checked against Google’s Family Link help on September 23, 2026, and rechecked on October 30, 2026, when the parent access code and turning-13 sections were added. Button names move. If a label does not match, use the Google help link at the bottom instead of tapping around at random.

Who Family Link is for

You can use Family Link to create a Google Account for a child under 13, or the applicable age in your country. You can also add supervision to a child’s existing Google Account. Google says you need to:

• Have your own Google Account, and be 18 or older, or the age required in your country.
• Live in the same country as the child.
• Use an Android phone on version 6.0 or later, an iPhone or iPad on iOS 16 or later, or a Chromebook that can run Android apps, so you can install the Family Link app. Some settings are also at familylink.google.com.

The child’s device must be an Android phone on 6.0 or later, a Chromebook on Chrome OS 71 or later, or a compatible Fitbit, if you want to supervise the device itself. Google is explicit: iPhones, iPads, and computers other than Chromebooks cannot be supervised with Family Link. A child who uses an iPhone needs Apple Screen Time for the device, even if they also have a Google Account.

Family Link may not be available in every country. It also cannot manage a Google Workspace for Education account. School Chromebooks are a separate system. Ask the district what it already controls before you add a second layer that fights the school login.

What a parent can manage

Google says a parent can:

• Change some of the child’s Google Account settings.
• Decide which apps the child can download or buy on a supervised device, block or allow apps, and change app permissions.
• Set a bedtime or a daily screen limit, and see time spent in apps.
• Check the location of the child’s Android phone or compatible Fitbit. Google says you need the Family Link app for location and for remote screen-time control. The website is not enough for those two jobs.
• Restrict mature content on Google Play.

Purchase approval only applies to purchases made through Google Play’s billing system. A game that takes payment in its own store, or a gift card the child already has, may not stop at your approval screen. Set spending limits inside the game too. Roblox is the common example: Roblox parental controls.

Google also says many Google services are not designed for children, even if the child has an account. Supervision reduces exposure. It does not turn YouTube, Search, or Gmail into a kids’ product by itself. For video, use the YouTube Kids and supervised account settings inside Family Link.

One thing to know before you reset a password: Google says that if your child has 2-Step Verification turned on and you change their password, 2-Step Verification is turned off, and you both get an email. Your child can turn it back on after they sign in.

Set a daily time limit

Google’s help page gives this path for the first setup, as of September 23, 2026:

1. Open the Family Link app.
2. At the top left, select your child.
3. At the bottom left, tap Screen time, then Time limits.
4. Turn on Daily limit.
5. Tap Weekly schedule, select a day, and enter the time allowed.
6. To use the same limit every day, tap Apply to all days of the week, then Done.

To turn the limit off for one day, select that day and turn Daily limit off. You can also add bonus time for today without changing the weekly schedule: Screen time, then Bonus time under the device name, set the amount, then Done.

Read this limit carefully. Google says daily limits apply to each Android device or Chromebook. A two-hour limit can mean two hours on the phone and another two hours on the Chromebook. If that is too much, set a shorter limit on each device, or use Downtime so both devices stop at bedtime.

On the child’s phone, a parent can check the limit in Settings. On Android 8.1 and later, that is Digital Wellbeing & parental controls. On older versions, Google lists it as Google Parental controls. Editing it there requires the parent to sign in or use the Parent Access Code.

The parent access code: unlock the child’s device in person

When you are next to your child and their device is locked for downtime or a limit, Google gives two ways to unlock it, checked October 30, 2026:

1. Your parent password. On the child’s device, tap Ask for more time, enter the password of the parent account that supervises the child, then tap Next. The child’s device must be on and connected to the internet for this option to show.
2. The parent access code. Open Family Link on your own phone, select your child’s profile at the top left, then tap Parent access code. Enter the code shown on the child’s device.

Google says you get the parent access code in the Family Link app or on the web, and never by email or text. A message offering you a Family Link code, or asking you to read one out, is a scam. You can also manage settings on the web at g.co/YourFamily.

Block or allow an app

1. Open Family Link and select the child.
2. Tap Screen time, then Time limits, then App limits.
3. Blocked apps are marked Blocked. Allowed apps are not.
4. Select the app and tap the Allowed or Blocked toggle, then Done.

Google says the change can take about five minutes, or until the device is online. If the child is in the app when you block it, they get about a minute to finish. The block applies on the child’s Android devices and Chromebooks. Some apps cannot be blocked because the phone or the supervision tools need them. Do not keep tapping those. The phone may need them to reach you.

Turn on location, and say so

1. Open Family Link.
2. Tap Location, then Set up location.
3. If you have more than one child, select who should share.
4. Tap Next, then Turn on.

This shows the child’s Android or compatible Fitbit location to the parent. It does not follow an iPhone. Tell the child the dot is on. Location sharing that nobody mentioned feels like spying, and a child who wants it off will look for a second phone. The off switch, and what the dot actually shows, is in family location sharing.

What happens when your child turns 13

Google says that when a child turns 13, or the applicable age in your country, Google emails both the supervising parent and the child. The email is titled “Ready to update your Google Account?” From there:

• If nobody acts on the email, the current supervision settings stay as they are.
• The child can update to an account with supervision for children over 13. They open the email, select Update your account, review the settings, and select I agree. A parent still supervises.
• A child under 18 needs a parent’s approval to stop supervision. A parent can stop it at any time. Both of you are notified when supervision stops.

Talk about that email before the birthday. A 13-year-old who opens it alone may think supervision has ended. It has not, unless a parent approves.

What to skip

• Do not expect Family Link to lock an iPhone. It will not.
• Do not use a school Google Account as the child’s home account. Workspace for Education accounts cannot be managed in Family Link.
• Do not assume a Play Store block stops every purchase. It covers Google Play billing, not every outside checkout.
• Do not install Family Link from a text message or a search ad. Open the Play Store or the App Store and search for Google Family Link, or go to families.google.com.
• Do not share the parent access code over text or email. Google never sends it that way, and nobody legitimate will ask for it.

Checklist

• Parent Google Account is 18 or older and in the same country as the child.
• Child has their own Google Account, with their real age.
• Family Link is installed from the official store, not from a link in a text.
• The Android phone or Chromebook shows as a supervised device.
• Daily limit and bedtime are set, and you know the limit is per device.
• Apps you do not want are blocked, and you waited a few minutes to confirm.
• Location is on only if you have told the child, and only on the Android device Family Link can see.
• YouTube is set to YouTube Kids or a supervised content level, not left on a normal YouTube login.
• You know where to find the parent access code in your Family Link app.
• If your child is about to turn 13, you have talked about the update email.

What this means for you

A parent should do the first setup on their own phone, with the child in the room. Handing over a phone that is already locked, with no explanation, starts an argument you will repeat every week.

A grandparent who buys the phone should still put the parent’s Google Account as the supervisor if the parent will be the one saying yes or no. Two supervisors who do not talk will approve opposite things.

An adult child helping an older parent does not need Family Link on the parent’s phone. Family Link is for a child’s account. For an older adult, the useful Google steps are a recovery email the family shares, two-step verification, and a rule about pop-ups. That rule is in how to spot a fake tech-support pop-up.

FAQ

Where do I find the Family Link parent access code?

In the Family Link app on your own phone: select your child’s profile at the top left, then tap Parent access code. Google says you get the code in the app or on the web. It is never sent by email or text.

Can I supervise an iPhone with Family Link?

No. Google’s help page says iPhones, iPads, and computers other than Chromebooks cannot be supervised with Family Link. Use Screen Time for an iPhone. You can still install the Family Link app on your own iPhone to manage a child’s Android device.

Can my teen turn off Family Link at 13?

Not alone. Google says children under 18 need a parent’s approval to stop supervision. At 13 the child can update to a teen version of the supervised account, but a parent still supervises.

Does a two-hour limit cover every device?

Not the way most parents expect. Google says the daily limit applies to each Android device or Chromebook. Two devices can mean two separate limits.

Why will an app not block?

Google says some apps cannot be blocked because supervision or the device needs them. If a game will not block, check the game’s own parent settings, and check that you are looking at the supervised device rather than a second phone that was never added.

Can a school account be managed here?

No. Google says Google Workspace for Education accounts cannot be managed by Family Link. Ask the school what its admin already locks.

Sources

• Google For Families Help, “Get started with Family Link,” support.google.com/families/answer/7101025, accessed September 23 and October 30, 2026.
• Google For Families Help, “Set up parental controls for your child,” support.google.com/families/answer/16398726, accessed September 23, 2026.
• Google For Families Help, “Manage parental controls,” support.google.com/families/answer/15077835, accessed September 23, 2026.
• Google For Families Help, “Unlock your child’s device,” support.google.com/families/answer/7307262, accessed October 30, 2026.
• Google For Families Help, “How Google Accounts work when children turn 13,” support.google.com/families/answer/7106787, accessed October 30, 2026.
• Google For Families Help, “Manage your child’s Google Account with Family Link,” support.google.com/families/answer/7103262, accessed October 30, 2026.

Photo: a child using a cellphone, by Shani Evenstein, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

This is not legal advice. The age for a child Google Account differs by country. If a menu has moved, follow Google’s help page rather than an old screenshot.

Update this guide if Google changes which devices Family Link can supervise, the turning-13 rules, or if the Screen time path in the Family Link app is renamed.