Laws in some regions require teens to have parental supervision of their account to access Google Play. If your teen is in a region where this is required, they are notified when they try to access Google Play.
When your teen’s Google Play experience is supervised, you can manage their:
- Play Store purchases and downloads
- App screen time limits
- Content filters
- And more
You cannot erase your child’s device, reset their password, or view what’s on their screen. Teens can transparently view their supervision settings in Family Link.
If you are in a region where Play Store supervision isn’t mandatory:
- You can still require purchase approvals on Google Play.
- You can set up full supervision on Family Link to manage your teen's Google Play apps on Family Link.
Set up & manage supervision
Either a parent or a teen can start the process to set up supervision, but both the parent and teen will need to agree to link their accounts before supervision gets turned on.
Supervision can be turned off by either a parent or a teen at any time, but parental approval is always required if the teen is under 18 years old.
To set up supervision from a teen’s device:
- On the Google Play welcome screen on your device, select Get started.
- Follow the on-screen instructions.
- On the screen “Invite your parent?”, select Next.
- Share either the QR code or the link with your parents.
- On the parent’s device:
- Scan the QR code or use the shared link.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to verify your identity.
- Enter your teen’s birthday, then select Confirm
Confirm & continue.
- On the teen’s device, follow the on-screen instructions to turn on Family Link controls.
The parent may be asked to authorize their credit card during their account verification.
- Their card won’t be charged.
- Any temporary authorization will be refunded.
- Their child won’t have access to their credit card without approval.
To stop supervision with a parent's device:
- Open the Family Link app
.
- At the top left, select your child’s profile.
- Tap Controls
- Select Google Play
.
- Follow the on-screen instructions.
On an Android device:
Important: To stop supervision on your child’s Android device, it must have Android 7.0 or higher.
- On your child's device, open Settings
.
- On Android versions 8.1 (O) and later, tap Digital Wellbeing & parental controls.
- On other Android versions:
- Tap Google
- Under “Kids & family,” tap Parental controls.
- Tap Google
- At the top right, tap More
- To verify you are a parent, sign in or use your Parent Access Code.
- To turn off supervision, follow the on-screen instructions.
From the Web or on a Non-Android Device:
- Go to Supervision Opt Out.
- At the bottom, select Stop supervision.
- Follow the on-screen instructions.
Manage your teen’s Play Store experience
As a parent, you can control important elements of your teen’s Play Store experience when you supervise their Google Account. However, you cannot erase your child’s device, reset their password, or view what’s on their screen.
Manage app purchases & downloadsIf you set up approval requirements for your teen to purchase or download apps, you will be notified in Family Link when your teen is asking for approval to download or purchase an app. You may also be required to provide approval if there are significant app updates.
Learn how to set requirements for and approve purchases on Google Play.
In some regions, local laws require Google to share your teen’s age range with apps. In other regions, you decide whether Google can share your teen’s age range with apps that request it to provide age-appropriate experiences.
- Open the Family Link app
- Select your child.
- Tap Controls
- Tap Birthday.
- Based on the updated information, tap Done or Ok.
Important: Parents who only supervise their teen’s Play Store experience cannot change the teen’s name or gender.
You can set time limits or block specific apps that you don’t want your child to access.
To make changes to your teen’s device settings:
- Open the Family Link app
- Select your child.
- Tap Controls
- Select your child’s device.
- Make the desired update to any of the following options:
- App permissions
- Add/Remove user
- Apps from unknown sources
- Developer options
- Edit date & time
What teens can see and do while supervised on Play Store
While supervised on the Play Store, teens have visibility into their supervision settings and can continue to purchase, download, and use apps based on what control settings have been applied.
They continue to control their Google Account and device passwords. Their screen activity remains private and is not shared with parents. To set up parental controls for other Google products and services, learn how to add all supervision features for your teen's Google Account.
At any time, teens can choose to end supervision, but if they are under the age of 18, need parent approval to do so.
Important: If a teen is under the age of 18 when they end supervision and also live in a restricted region, they will lose access to the Play Store. They won’t be able to browse or download apps until they are supervised again.
Troubleshooting
Remove supervision when a teen is under 18Parents receive notifications through the Family Link app and through email. These notifications include:
- Requests for new app installations and purchases.
- Requests for significant updates to existing apps.
To view notifications:
- Open the Family Link app
- At the top right, tap Notifications
