How Do I Put Parental Controls on My Computer?

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The Internet makes everything easy to access. From your favorite television shows to hair-raising global news, the things you want to access are but a click away. As great as this is, though, it does have some downsides if you have little kids around.

Plenty of youngsters these days have access to computers. It’s important to implement parental controls on these devices to reduce the risk of children viewing inappropriate content on the web and performing other actions, like deleting work files. Furthermore, you should also do this on all the other devices your child has access to. In this way, you can monitor their online activities and use age-appropriate settings on their gadgets.

The Purpose of Parental Controls

Parental controls are gadget-specific options or software that allow parents to monitor their child’s online activity. They prevent kids from viewing content that is inappropriate or unsuitable. Also, their implementation can be done within search engines, streaming sites, internet service providers, and more.

Using parental controls, you can perform the following:

• Limit what children can search online via search engines
• Manage the kinds of videos that can be searched by kids
• Prevent kids from accessing certain services
• Block online video games your child can access
• Manage web browsers so that they only show pre-approved websites

Setting Parental Controls on Your Computer

Both Windows and Mac operating systems have parental control options to help keep your child safe the moment they use their device. Here are some of the content restricted by Windows 10:

• Inappropriate games, media, and apps
• Unsuitable websites
• Microsoft Store purchasing (in the event that your child attempts to make a purchase without your consent)

How to Block Inappropriate Games, Media, and Apps on Windows 10

Here are a few simple steps to keep your children from accessing inappropriate content on your Windows 10 computer:

1. Head to the Microsoft Family Safety page and sign in using your account.
2. Using the Window Settings, set up a child account. If you’ve already made an account, look for your child’s name and click on Content Restrictions.
3. Locate Apps, games, and media and toggle on the Block unsuitable apps, games, and media.
4. Under the section Allow apps and games rated for, select the age limit you’d like to set for your child.
5. If your child requests access to a game or application that’s been blocked, you can unblock by heading over to the Content Restrictions section and adding the content to the Always allowed list.
6. In the event that inappropriate content was already downloaded by your child prior to the implementation of restrictions, it can be blocked through the Activity page. As a result, your child will need your permission to regain access to the content, which you can either disapprove or approve via email.

How to Block Inappropriate Websites on Windows 10

Without the implementation of proper parental restrictions, children using computers can easily find themselves browsing through some questionable website content. Here’s what you can do to keep this from happening on your Windows 10:

1. Sign in to your account on the Microsoft Family Safety page.
2. Look for your child’s name and select Content Restrictions.
3. Search for Web Browsing and then toggle on Block unsuitable websites.
4. If you want to block certain sites, add their URLs on the Always blocked list.
5. To limit the websites your child can browse, mark the box beside the Only allow these websites section.

How to Set Needs Adult Approval for Microsoft Store

Leaving your child to his own devices without setting the appropriate content restrictions in Microsoft Store can be worrisome. You never know what you might end up paying for. Here are three steps to ensure this never happens:

1. Look for your child’s name in the Content Restrictions.
2. Toggle on Needs adult approval before purchasing.
3. Approve or disapprove their requests via email or Microsoft Family Safety.

How to Implement Parental Controls for Mac OS

1. To enable content filtering for Mac OS v10.5 and 10.6, follow these steps:
2. Select the Apple Menu and choose System Preferences.
3. Then, select Parental Controls.
4. On the left side of the window, choose the account in which you want to enable filtering. This should be your child’s account. Take note that admin accounts don’t have the parental control option, so make sure your child’s account isn’t an admin and has managed access.
5. Choose Enable Parental Controls.
6. Select the content tab.
7. Select either of the three modes available under Website Restrictions, namely: automatic, unrestricted, and whitelist.

Conclusion

The above-mentioned parental control options are specific to certain computers with Windows 10 operating systems and Mac OS v10.5 and 10.6. While convenient and effective for these types of operating systems, they can’t be applied to others. This is why most tend to favor the more universal means of setting up parental controls and use a software program, like the ones compiled by AppSoftHub, that’s applicable for a wide range of devices and systems.

Courtney P.

I’m a 20-something stay-at-home mother and wife. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, two loving dogs, and a lazy cat. I wouldn’t change my life for anything! I love to read, listen to music, cook and blog!

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