Parental controls on an iPhone live inside Screen Time. They can limit apps, filter websites, and lock privacy settings such as Share My Location. They only work the way Apple describes if the child is in your Family Sharing group and you keep a Screen Time passcode that the child does not know.
This guide is for a parent or grandparent setting up a child’s iPhone or iPad, and for an adult child who is helping. It is not a way to watch someone in secret. As of September 23, 2026, the paths below match Apple’s support page. Menus move, so if a label differs, stop and check Apple’s page rather than guessing.
What Screen Time can and cannot do
Apple’s parental controls can manage downloads and purchases, who a child can communicate with, and which apps and content they can open. Some Screen Time tools work even if you do not turn on Content & Privacy Restrictions. Apple lists Screen Distance, Communication Limits, and Communication Safety in that group. Communication Safety is meant to detect inappropriate photos and videos before they are sent or viewed.
Screen Time is not a full substitute for talking with a child. It also does not control every app’s own chat. A game or social app can have its own friend list. Those need their own settings. See the guides on Roblox, TikTok Family Pairing, and Instagram Teen Accounts.
Some controls are already on by default, depending on the child’s age and your country or region. Apple says the age cutoff varies. Do not assume a setting is off just because you did not touch it.
Set up Family Sharing first
Apple says you need Family Sharing on your device, then the child’s Apple Account in your family group, before you can set parental controls for that child’s device. After that, turn on Content & Privacy Restrictions.
- On your iPhone, open Settings.
- Tap your name, then Family, and set up Family Sharing if you have not already.
- Add the child’s Apple Account to the family group. A child who does not have an Apple Account can get one during this step. Use the child’s real age. A false age can turn the wrong protections off.
- Update every Apple device in the family before you change controls. Apple says settings sync only when devices are on the latest software.
If you are helping a grandparent who shares an iPad with a grandchild, give the child their own Apple Account. A shared login mixes purchases, messages, and location, and Screen Time cannot tell the two people apart.
Turn on Content & Privacy Restrictions
- Open Settings and tap Screen Time.
- Under Family, tap the child’s name.
- Tap Content & Privacy Restrictions.
- Enter your Screen Time passcode if asked, then turn Content & Privacy Restrictions on.
If you turn this switch off later, Apple says the parental controls inside it pause until you turn it back on. Set a Screen Time passcode during setup. If you skipped it, set one in Screen Time settings so only you can change the controls.
Write the passcode down and keep it somewhere the child cannot open. A passcode saved in the child’s notes is not a lock.
Lock purchases, apps, and the web
These steps all start the same way: Settings, Screen Time, the child’s name, Content & Privacy Restrictions, then the Screen Time passcode.
App Store purchases
- Tap iTunes & App Store Purchases.
- Set installing apps, deleting apps, and in-app purchases to Don’t Allow if you do not want the child to do those alone.
- Under Require Password, choose Always Require if you want a password for every purchase.
Apple notes that in iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 and later, a child can request an exception. You should get a message in the Messages app. If you do not, update your own iPhone. You need the latest software to answer some requests.
Built-in apps
Tap Allowed Apps & Features and turn off apps you do not want on the Home Screen. Apple says the app is hidden, not deleted. Mail, for example, comes back when you allow it again.
Ratings and explicit content
- Tap App Store, Media, Web, & Games.
- Under Allowed Media Services Content, set music, movies, TV, books, and apps to the ratings you accept.
- You can also block explicit music, podcasts, news, and fitness content, and limit music videos and music profiles.
Web content
Still under App Store, Media, Web, & Games, tap Web Content. Apple offers three choices: Unrestricted, Limit Adult Websites, or Only Approved Websites. Limit Adult Websites is the usual starting point for a school-age child. Only Approved Websites is stricter and will block homework sites until you add them. Add the school’s learning sites before you choose that option, or the child will be stuck on the first assignment.
Game Center
These limits apply only to games that use Game Center. You can restrict multiplayer, adding friends, screen recording, nearby multiplayer, and private messaging. Private messaging covers voice chats and custom messages with game invitations. Third-party games that do not use Game Center are not covered. Check those apps one by one.
Lock privacy settings, including location
Under Content & Privacy Restrictions, the Privacy section can stop a child from changing access to Location Services, Contacts, Photos, the microphone, and tracking. Apple also lists Share My Location here. Locking it keeps the child from quietly turning family location sharing off, or from turning it on for people you did not approve.
That lock is a safety tool. Tell the child it is on. A teen who feels watched in secret will look for a workaround, and some of those workarounds are less safe than the family setting. Read what family location sharing shows before you lock it.
Under Allow Changes To, you can also stop changes to the passcode and Face ID, accounts, cellular data, and Driving Focus. Locking Passcode & Face ID matters. If a child can change the device passcode, they can lock you out of the phone.
What to skip
- Do not use a fake birth date to get fewer restrictions. Age-based defaults exist for a reason, and they differ by country.
- Do not turn off Content & Privacy Restrictions “just for a minute” and forget it. Apple says those controls pause while it is off.
- Do not rely on Screen Time alone for TikTok, Snapchat, Discord, or Roblox chat. Those apps have their own parent tools.
- Do not install a random “parental control” app from an ad. Use the controls built into the phone first.
Checklist
- Child has their own Apple Account in your Family Sharing group.
- Every family device is updated.
- Screen Time passcode is set and stored away from the child.
- Content & Privacy Restrictions is on.
- App installs and in-app purchases are set to Don’t Allow, or require your password every time.
- Web Content is Limit Adult Websites or Only Approved Websites.
- Share My Location and Passcode & Face ID changes are locked if this is a younger child.
- You have told the child what you can see and what you can approve.
What this means for you
A parent should set this up on their own phone, under the child’s name in Screen Time, not only on the child’s phone. Controls set only on the child’s device are easier to undo if the child knows the passcode.
An adult child helping a parent with the parent’s own iPhone should not turn on a child’s Content & Privacy Restrictions. That tool is for a child account. For an older adult, the useful pieces are a strong device passcode, no unknown configuration profiles, and a family rule about pop-ups. That rule is in how to spot a fake tech-support pop-up.
If a child uses an Android phone, Screen Time will not cover it. Use Google Family Link for that device.
FAQ
Can I set parental controls without Family Sharing?
Apple says you need Family Sharing and the child’s Apple Account in the family group before you can set parental controls for the child’s device. You can use some Screen Time tools on your own phone without that, but those are for your use, not for managing a child at a distance.
Will the child know I changed a setting?
Yes, in practice. Apps disappear, websites block, and purchase buttons ask for a passcode. Tell them before the first block. Surprise locks cause fights and missed homework.
What if I cannot approve a request?
Apple says you should get a Messages alert. If you do not, update your iPhone or iPad. You need the latest software to respond to some requests. Also confirm the child is still in your Family Sharing group.
Does this stop a child from using a friend’s phone?
No. Screen Time follows the Apple Account and the device you manage. A different phone with a different login is outside these controls. That is a conversation, not a setting.
Sources
- Apple Support, “Use parental controls to manage your child’s iPhone or iPad,” support.apple.com/en-us/105121, accessed September 23, 2026.
- Apple Support, “Use Screen Time to manage your child’s iPhone or iPad,” support.apple.com/en-us/108806, accessed September 23, 2026.
- Apple Support, “Family Sharing overview for kids and teens,” support.apple.com/en-us/119854, accessed September 23, 2026.
Photo: a child using a tablet, by Walden Kirsch / Intel Free Press, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
This is not legal, medical, or financial advice. Apple’s menus and age rules differ by country and software version. If a step does not match your phone, use the Apple Support link above.
Update this guide if Apple renames Screen Time, changes the iOS 26 exception-request flow, or changes which privacy toggles a parent can lock.