// PS5 & PS4 · CHECKED 18 AUGUST 2026
PlayStation parental controls — child accounts, age level, spending and play time
Sony’s system is tidy once you know the shape: one adult is the family manager, each child under 18 gets their own child account under them, and every control — age level for games, a monthly spending limit (default £0), chat and sharing, play time, even web browsing — is set per child from the console, from playstation.com, or from the PlayStation Family app. And then you lock the console so the settings can’t be quietly undone. Here’s each step with the menu names Sony prints today. Rated 4.9 on Google.
- ● Checked 18 August 2026
- ● PS5 & PS4
- ● Sony’s own steps
/01 — THE SHAPE OF IT
One family manager, one child account per child
Sony’s rule: each child under 18 needs a separate child account, and they all sit under one adult — the family manager. That adult’s wallet is what any spending draws on, which is why the child’s spending limit defaults to £0. You manage everything from three equivalent places: the console (Settings > Family and Parental Controls on PS5), playstation.com > Account Management > Family Management, or the PlayStation Family phone app (which also shows what they’re playing right now and lets you approve extra-time requests).
Dorset Police have covered Fortnite and Roblox — both on PlayStation too in their own guide — the step-by-step for Instagram, Facebook, Messenger Kids, TikTok, X, Reddit, Discord, Snapchat, WhatsApp, Telegram, Fortnite and Roblox. It’s good and it’s official; read it here. This page covers what it doesn’t.
/02 — STEP BY STEP
Account, age level, spending, chat, play time
- Child account. Web: Account Management > Family Management > Set Up Now > Add a Child. PS5: profile icon > Switch User > Add User > Get Started > Create an Account. PS4: Settings > Parental Controls/Family Management > Family Management > Set Up Now > Create User. Or the PlayStation Family app > Set Up Your Family.
- Find the controls. PS5: Settings > Family and Parental Controls > Family Management > the child. PS4: Settings > Parental Controls/Family Management. Web: Family Management > child > Edit.
- Restriction level. PS5 offers presets — Late Teens or Older, Early Teens, Child — or set each control yourself: Age Level for Games (they can start content rated at or below their age), Age Level for Blu-ray Disc and DVD, Use of PlayStation VR / VR2 (Sony: “not for use by children under 12”), Web Browsing, and Age Filtering for Online Content.
- Spending. Monthly Spending Limit — default £0, and anything you allow comes out of the family manager’s wallet. Under Allowed Games you’ll see exception requests for games above the age level.
- Chat and sharing. Communication and User-Generated Content > Restrict turns off text and voice chat and content sharing in one go. That’s the right default for a young child; for a teen you’ll probably loosen it and rely on the friends list.
- Play time. PS5: Family Management > child > set a Time Zone first, then Playtime Settings: Restrict Playtime (Restrict / Do Not Restrict), When Playtime Ends (Notify Only, or Log Out), Duration and Playable Hours > Save. Extra-time requests come to you in the app, on the console or on the web.
- Lock it. PS5: Settings > Family and Parental Controls > PS5 Console Restrictions > Change Your Console Restriction Passcode (4 digits) and User Creation and Guest Login > Not Allowed — otherwise a child simply makes a new, unrestricted user. Optionally a login passcode too: Settings > Users and Accounts > Login Settings > Set a PS5 Login Passcode. PS4: PS4 System Restrictions > Change System Restriction Passcode; New User Creation and Guest Login > Not Allowed.
Sony’s UK pages describe the age-level rule but don’t print a PEGI-by-PEGI table, so we won’t invent one: the practical setting is your child’s actual age, and the Allowed Games requests handle the rest.
// CHECKED AGAINST THE MAKER’S OWN INSTRUCTIONS · 18 August 2026
Apps change their menus often. Every step on this page was checked against these official help pages on the date above. If a step no longer matches what you see, tell us on 01202 775566 and we’ll fix it.
// IF SOMETHING HAS ALREADY GONE WRONG
- A child is in immediate danger: call 999. Otherwise Dorset Police on 101 or online at dorset.police.uk.
- Someone online is talking to your child in a sexual way, or asking for images: report to CEOP (the police’s child-protection command) at ceop.police.uk.
- A nude or sexual image of an under-18 is online: Childline’s Report Remove can get it taken down, confidentially.
- You want to talk it through with someone: the NSPCC helpline 0808 800 5000 for adults; Childline 0800 1111 for children and young people.
- Bullying, scams or a compromised account: screenshot everything before you delete anything, then use the platform’s report tool — and if the account is one we look after, ring us.
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// RELATED
Part of our parents’ guide to parental controls. Also: Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and set the phone first: Screen Time & Family Link.
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// GOOD QUESTIONS
Frequently asked
My child made a new user on the PS5 and got round everything. How?
Because User Creation and Guest Login was left allowed. PS5: Settings > Family and Parental Controls > PS5 Console Restrictions > set it to Not Allowed and change the console restriction passcode. That single step is what makes the rest stick.
What is the default spending limit on a child account?
£0 — and anything you raise it to is charged to the family manager’s wallet, not to a card of the child’s. Set a small monthly figure if you want to allow pocket-money purchases without an argument every time.
Play time keeps letting them finish the match. Is that a bug?
No — When Playtime Ends has two options: Notify Only (a warning, but play continues) or Log Out (it actually stops). Notify Only is the default many parents leave on without realising. Change it in Playtime Settings.
Can I do all this from my phone?
Yes: the PlayStation Family app covers playtime schedules and extra-time requests, spending limits, age rating, communication and privacy, plus activity reports and what they’re playing right now.
Rather we set it up on the actual devices?
Call 01202 775566 or text 07520 615332, Mon–Fri 9–5. We’ll set the controls up properly on your child’s phone, tablet, console or PC — remotely, or at home across Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch & Dorset — and show you where everything lives, so you’re in charge afterwards, not us. Free 15-minute phone chat first; no charge for advice.
01202 775566 · help@365techies.co.uk · MON–FRI 9AM–5PM