All guides

WhatsApp

Encrypted messaging, and the app most children move to when they get a phone. For under-13s there is now a parent-managed account with real controls. From 13 there is no supervision at all, and the privacy settings are the whole toolkit.

ChatAbout 10 minutesSource confidence: highChecked 3 September 2026

Menu names shift between software versions and between phone makers. If a name here does not match what you see, look for something close by rather than assuming the setting is gone.

There is a version built for younger children

A parent-managed account, an account type in WhatsApp. Announced in March 2026 for under-13s. The account can message and call but not use AI, Channels or Status. You approve who can contact them and which groups they can join, behind a parent PIN. Setting it up means confirming you are an adult with a selfie.

Worth knowing: Messages stay end to end encrypted, so you cannot read them. This controls who reaches your child, not what is said. WhatsApp is still rolling it out and has published no country list, so it may not have reached you yet.

The official page for a parent-managed account

What to watch for

Before you start

  1. 1

    If they are under 13, use a parent-managed account

    This is new, and it is the only real supervision WhatsApp offers. Only saved contacts can message them, messages from unknown numbers go to you for approval, and location sharing and disappearing messages are removed entirely.

    Child's phone: install and register → Parent's phone: scan QR → create parent PIN

    1. Install WhatsApp on your child's phone and register their number, entering their real birthday.
    2. On your own phone, scan the QR code shown on theirs.
    3. Create a 6-digit parent PIN. Do not share it with your child.
    4. Enter that PIN on your child's device to finish.

    Still rolling out by country, so it may not appear yet. It also cannot be applied to an account that already exists, and it switches itself off on their 13th birthday.

    Who holds this: You set this from your own account, and your child cannot change it back.

    Already done this?

    If they already have an ordinary WhatsApp account, our reading is that it cannot be converted, because parent-managed accounts are only set up during first-time registration. That means re-registering rather than converting. WhatsApp does not state this outright anywhere we could find, so treat it as our reading of their documented setup flow rather than something they have confirmed.

  2. 2

    Check the minimum age, and what most guides get wrong

    WhatsApp's minimum is 13, including in the EU and UK. It was raised to 16 in Europe in 2018 and has since gone back to 13, so a lot of parenting advice you'll find is out of date.

    1. If your child is under 13, the parent-managed account above is the supported route.
    2. If they are 13 or over, there is no supervision available and the steps below are the whole toolkit.

    From 13 there is no activity reporting, no contact approval and no way for you to see anything. Personal chats are end-to-end encrypted, so WhatsApp cannot read them either.

  3. 3

    Tighten the four privacy settings

    The defaults are more open than parents expect. By default anyone can see their profile photo and when they are online, and anyone can add them to a group. One thing to know before you change Last seen: WhatsApp applies it both ways, so once they stop sharing theirs, they stop seeing everyone else's too.

    Settings → Privacy

    1. Open Settings, then Privacy.
    2. Set Last seen and online, Profile photo, About, and Status one at a time.
    3. Choose My contacts, or My contacts except, rather than Everyone.
    Recommended by age
    Under 7My contacts for all four
    7–11My contacts for all four
    11–12My contacts for all four
    13–15My contacts for all four
    16–17Agree it together, My contacts is still the sensible floor

    Who holds this: This lives in your child's own settings, so they can change it back. There is no parent-side lock for it.

  4. 4

    Restrict who can add them to groups

    Group invites are the main way strangers reach a child on WhatsApp.

    Settings → Privacy → Groups

    1. Open Settings, then Privacy, then Groups.
    2. Set it to My contacts, or My contacts except.
    Recommended by age
    Under 7My contacts
    7–11My contacts
    11–12My contacts
    13–15My contacts
    16–17My contacts

    Read this bit carefully. This only stops someone adding them silently. Anyone can still send a group invite link, and your child can join it regardless of this setting. It also does not remove them from groups they are already in.

    Who holds this: This lives in your child's own settings, so they can change it back. There is no parent-side lock for it.

    If someone is being cruel to them

    Being added to a group in order to be mocked is common, and this is the setting that stops it happening silently. It does not get them out of a group they are already in, and it does not block an invite link, so it stops the ambush rather than the bullying.

  5. 5

    Silence unknown callers

    Cuts out cold calls from numbers they don't know, which is a common scam and contact route.

    Settings → Privacy → Calls → Silence unknown callers

    1. Open Settings, then Privacy, then Calls.
    2. Turn on Silence unknown callers.

    Who holds this: This lives in your child's own settings, so they can change it back. There is no parent-side lock for it.

  6. 6

    Check live location sharing

    Live location can be shared into a group, which shares it with every member including people your child has never met.

    Settings → Privacy → Live location

    1. Open Settings, then Privacy, then Live location.
    2. If anything is listed, tap Stop sharing.
    3. Agree that live location is for family only.

    Who holds this: This lives in your child's own settings, so they can change it back. There is no parent-side lock for it.

  7. 7

    Show them how to block and report

    The most useful thing on this app is a child who knows what to do without asking first.

    1. Open any chat, tap the contact name, and show them Block and Report.
    2. Explain that the person is not told they have been reported.
    3. Agree that anything odd gets screenshotted and shown to you before they block.

    One real limit worth explaining: blocking someone does not hide their messages inside a group you both belong to, and a group chat cannot be blocked at all.

    If someone is being cruel to them

    The screenshot rule matters more here than anywhere else. WhatsApp blocks screenshots of View Once messages entirely, so anything sent that way is gone the moment it is opened, and blocking can put the rest out of reach.

  8. 8

    Add a device-level backstop

    These settings only cover this one service. A device-level control catches the app they download next.

    1. Set up Screen Time, Family Link, Microsoft Family Safety or your console's own controls.
    2. Require your approval for new app downloads.

    SafeStart has a separate guide for each of these. Pick your device on the home screen.

Safety check

Worth talking about

Official sources

Has something already happened?If your child has been contacted by an adult, is being threatened over an image, or is being bullied, settings are not the first thing to deal with. Here is what to do, and who to tell.

Menus move. If something on screen does not match these steps, check the official link above.