A Guide to XBox parental controls
XBox Console (XBox 360, XBox One)
- Before setting up family-friendly features on the XBox console, you will need to create and login with your adult Microsoft account and create a Microsoft Family group. Parental controls settings for your child will sink across all devices and services that use the same Microsoft account: XBox One, XBox 360, XBox Live, Windows 10 PC, or mobile app.
- Press the Xbox button
- Sign in with your adult account
- Xbox button > System > Settings > Account.
- Select Family settings > Manage family members > Add to family > Add new > Enter child’s existing email address (can be any email address they use elsewhere)
- If they don’t have one: Get a new email > Create a new @outlook.com email address > Enter their name (as far as we know, you don’t have to provide full legal name if you wish to protect their privacy) > Pick a password > Enter the child’s date of birth > Add a security proof (account versification) to protect the child’s account > Agree to the Microsoft Services Agreement and Privacy Statement.
- Verify the addition of the child to the family with a mobile device, PC, or Xbox One console:
- If you select This Xbox: Enter your Microsoft account > follow the steps to provide consent to create the child account.
- If you select Their phone/PC: Enter your email address > follow the steps in the email you receive to provide consent to create the child account.
- Press the Xbox button
- Sign in with your account
- Press the Xbox button > System > Settings > Account.
- Family settings > Manage family members > Add to family.
- Select the profile for the child, and then press the A button on your controller.
What parents can do
- Press the Xbox button > System > Settings > Account > Family settings.
- Select Manage family members > select the child account > Content restrictions, choose the desired age-level restriction. By default, your child’s restrictions will be set to the age associated with their Microsoft account.
- When your child asks to use a blocked app or game that’s rated above their content restrictions: Locate the content you want to allow your child to access > On the Choose who will give permission screen > select your account > Enter your account email address and password, or the console’s passkey > Select either Always or Just this once.
Allow or block your child’s ability to join multiplayer online games, create and join clubs, broadcast their gameplay, add friends and chat.
Choose who can communicate with your child, select who can see what your child watches or plays, and decide what profile information others can see.
Use app privacy settings
When you download apps from the Microsoft Store on your Xbox One, each app requires permission to access data from your console. Use privacy settings to control what data is collected and how it’s used.
- Sign in to the console with the adult’s Microsoft account.
- Press the Xbox button on your controller
- Select System > Settings > Account > Family settings.
- Select Manage family members > select the child account you’d like to manage.
- Return to Privacy & online safety > App privacy to give permissions
Block inappropriate websites
- Press the Xbox button > System > Settings > Account > Family settings.
- Manage family members > choose the child account to which you want to add web filters.
- Select Web filtering > Choose the desired level of web filtering.
Control purchases
When the child profile is set up on the XBox console, you would be prompted to choose whether to purchase Xbox Live Gold, which is required for online play, receiving discounts, in addition to four free games per month – you can decline this. Paid subscriptions are better managed on parent account.
- Press the Xbox button
- Go to System > Settings > Account.
- Select Family settings > Manage family members > select the child whose settings you want to change.
- Select Privacy & online safety > Xbox Live privacy > View details & customize.
- Select Buy and download, and then select On in the Ask a parent box.
Set screen time limits
- Set device screen time limits online: Sign in to your Microsoft account and schedule time for each member in your family group.
- Set a time limit for a specific game or app in your Microsoft family group account.
- View activity reports
XBox Live online multiplayer gaming
Xbox parental controls also apply to online gaming on XBox Live platform, as long as the child is logged in under the same account and is part of a Family Group. Settings that matter with online gaming the most are children’s Online Safety and Privacy:
Family Settings > Manage Family Members > Child profile > XBox Live Privacy & online safety > choose Settings to adjust
What to do if the child opened an unrestricted adult account?
If your child opened an unrestricted account (by lying about their age), you have 3 options:
- Delete a child account, and recreate it with the correct birthday under the safety of Microsoft Family group. How to set up Microsoft Family.
- Convert an account to a child account by changing the (fake) birthday on child’s Microsoft account they created for themselves:
Go to account.microsoft.com > sign in with their Microsoft account > Your info > Edit date of birth > Enter the password again to verify your identity > Make your changes > Save > You will get a message with something like this: “You’ve changed your birth date or country to indicate that you’re under 13 years of age. If this is true, legislation requires that an adult verify your age with a credit card.“
In the United States, South Korea and the EU, legislation requires that children have adult consent before creating an online account. If that did not happen, Microsoft technically has a right to disable the account.
3. Keep account as an adult account (in case you are not interested in sharing more of your family data by creating a Microsoft Family group) but adjust Privacy and Online safety settings to safer levels and monitor your child’s XBox activities manually. Unless a child account is set up under Family Group, you would not be able to take advantage of Microsoft parental controls. Layering additional parental controls and screen time management solutions that are unrelated to Microsoft will help you mitigate the damage.
Privacy and online safety to adjust on an adult account (nothing will prevent your child changing them back if they keep using the account):
Privacy:
- See other people’s Xbox Live profiles (Everyone/Friends/Block)
- Use video for communications (Everyone/Friends/Block)
- See and upload community creations (Everyone/Friends/Block)
- Communicate outside of Xbox Live with voice & text (Allow/In-game Friends/Block)
- Others can see your Xbox profile details (Everyone/Friends/Block)
- Others can communicate with voice, text, or invites (Everyone/Friends/Block)
- Others can see your friends list (Everyone/Friends/Block)
- Others can see if you’re online (Everyone/Friends/Block)
- Others can see your game and app history (Everyone/Friends/Block)
- Others can see your captures on Xbox Live (Everyone/Friends/Block)
- Real Name (Everyone/Friends/Friends I choose/Block)
- You can share your real name with friends of friends (Allow/Block)
- Others can see your club memberships (Everyone/Friends/Block)
- Others can see your activity feed (Everyone/Friends/Block)
XBox One/Windows 10 Online Safety:
- Play with people outside of Xbox Live (Allow/Block)
- Create and join clubs (Allow/Block)
- Broadcast gameplay (Allow/Block)
- Upload captures to Xbox Live (Allow/Block)
- Share content made using Kinect or another camera (Allow/Block)
- Others can share your content to social networks (Allow/Block)
- Join multiplayer games (Allow/Block)
- Add friends (Allow/Block)
XBox 360 Online Safety
- Kinect Sharing (Allow/Block)
- Receive standard or family programming on Xbox 360
- Share outside of Xbox Live (Allow/Block)
- Access to explicit music, explicit music videos, and mature Windows Phone games in the Xbox Music Store or Xbox Video Store on Xbox 360 (Allow/Block)
