YouTube

The biggest video platform. Which version your child should be on depends on their age, and the controls sit in a place most parents never find.

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.

1. 1

   Pick which version of YouTube they use

   This decides more than any single toggle, and the common belief here is wrong. Plenty of guidance still says an under-13 can only use YouTube Kids. That stopped being true a while ago. A supervised kid account is, in Google's words, a parent-managed version of regular YouTube for children under 13, and it works on phones, computers, TVs and consoles. So the real question is when to move them off YouTube Kids, not whether you are allowed to.

   1. Young children: YouTube Kids, a separate app with its own content levels.
   2. Under 13 and ready for more: a supervised kid account, set up from your own YouTube account.
   3. 13 and over: they get a teen account automatically. You can add supervision on top, but only if they agree to it.
   4. Whichever you pick, do it from your account rather than theirs.

   Recommended by age

   Under 7	YouTube Kids, Preschool level
   7–11	YouTube Kids, or a supervised kid account
   11–12	Supervised kid account
   13–15	Teen account, with supervision if they will agree
   16–17	Teen account, with a conversation about the feed

   Supervised kid accounts are not available in Quebec. YouTube Kids is not either.

2. 2

   Find Family Center

   Worth its own step because nearly every mistake with YouTube starts here. The controls that actually hold are on your account, not your child's, and the ones on your child's account are suggestions they can undo. If you only remember one thing from this guide, make it this path.

   YouTube app → your profile picture → Settings → Family Center

   1. Sign in as yourself, not as your child.
   2. Tap your profile picture, then Settings, then Family Center.
   3. Pick your child. Everything below happens from here.

   You are now on the parent side. Changes you make here your child cannot reverse.

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

3. 3

   Set the content setting

   This is the main control on a supervised kid account and it decides which slice of YouTube they can reach. Pitch it tighter than they will accept and they end up watching on a friend's phone instead, where you can see nothing at all. Aim for the level they will actually live with.

   Family Center → [your child] → Content setting

   1. Open Family Center and select your child.
   2. Choose the content setting for their age.
   3. It applies everywhere they are signed in, including the TV.

   Recommended by age

   Under 7	YouTube Kids instead of this
   7–11	Older kids, also shown as Explore (9+)
   11–12	Older kids, also shown as Explore (9+)

   Google uses two sets of names for the same three settings and has not finished switching over, so you may see either. Older kids is Explore (9+), Teens is Explore more (13+), Older teens is Most of YouTube. Comments differ by level and this catches people out: on Older kids your child cannot read comments at all, and on the two higher settings they can read them but not post. Live streams are off on Older kids only.

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

4. 4

   Check what their teen account already does, and offer supervision

   At 13 YouTube moves them to a teen account whether anyone asks for it or not, and some protections come on by themselves. Supervision on top is a different thing from the under-13 version. There is no content filter in it. What you get is visibility and time controls, and both of you have to agree to it, which makes it a conversation rather than a setting.

   Family Center → invite your teen

   1. Send the invitation from Family Center. Either of you can start it and you both have to accept.
   2. If they say no, leave it. Either side can end it later anyway, so forcing it buys nothing.
   3. Set take a break and bedtime reminders, and a daily limit on the Shorts feed.

   Recommended by age

   13–15	Worth asking for
   16–17	Their call, mostly

   You can see the channels they own, what they have posted and commented, and what they subscribe to. You cannot filter what they watch.

   Who holds this: Either of you can change this, and neither of you is told when the other does.

5. 5

   Lock autoplay off from your account

   Autoplay is what turns a ten-minute video into two hours, and it is the setting most often explained wrongly, including by us until now. There is an autoplay switch inside your child's own YouTube settings, and it is not the one that matters, because they can switch it straight back. The parent version is in Family Center and it holds.

   Family Center → [your child] → Disable autoplay

   1. In Family Center, select your child and choose Disable autoplay.
   2. Do not do this from your child's own settings screen. That toggle is theirs to undo.

   Autoplay is off and, in YouTube's words, your child can't turn on Autoplay when this setting is on.

   Kid accounts ship with autoplay already off. Worth opening anyway to confirm, since it is the one setting people assume is handled and often is not.

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

6. 6

   Decide what to do about history

   This is the one that looks wrong, because history is how you see what they have been watching. That is the trade. You give up your own record, and in exchange the recommendations stop chasing whatever they clicked once. If the record matters more to you, leave history on and rely on the content setting instead. Either answer is defensible. Doing neither is not.

   Family Center → [your child] → history

   1. Pause watch history and search history if you want the feed to stop learning.
   2. Clear the existing history if the recommendations have already drifted somewhere you do not like.
   3. If you would rather keep the record, leave it on and check My Activity now and then.

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

7. 7

   Block channels you do not want

   Faster than trying to filter by topic, and it sticks. It is also the other step people do from the wrong place. There is a block option in YouTube Kids that sits behind the passcode, and a different one for supervised accounts that you do from an ordinary channel page while signed in as yourself.

   1. Signed in as yourself, open the channel page and go to About.
   2. Choose Report user, then Block channel for kids.
   3. Continue past the warning, pick your child, and block.
   4. To undo one, repeat and choose Unblock.

   Two things worth knowing. Blocking a channel does not block the same video reuploaded elsewhere, or a near-identical channel. And Unblock videos in Family Center clears every block you have ever set, all at once, so avoid it unless that is what you mean. If your child uses the same Google Account for both, blocks carry across to YouTube Kids.

8. 8

   Set a time limit

   YouTube has more of its own timing tools than it used to, so try those first and use the device as a backstop. The device limit is still the stronger one, because it does not depend on your child dismissing a reminder honestly.

   1. In Family Center: take a break reminders, bedtime reminders, and a daily limit on the Shorts feed.
   2. In YouTube Kids: Settings, solve the sum or enter your passcode, Set Timer. When it runs out the app locks itself.
   3. As a backstop: iPhone and iPad, Settings, Screen Time, App Limits. Android and Chromebook, Family Link, Controls, Daily limit.

   The YouTube Kids timer locks the app. The reminders on a supervised account do not, they just interrupt.

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