// YOUTUBE & YOUTUBE KIDS · CHECKED 18 AUGUST 2026

YouTube parental controls — supervised accounts, YouTube Kids and teen supervision

YouTube is the app most under-13s use most, and it has three quite different setups depending on age: YouTube Kids (a separate, walled app), a supervised account on the main YouTube app with a content level you choose, and — new — a supervised teen account that both parent and teenager agree to. Here’s each one, with the menu names as Google prints them today, and the two things everyone gets wrong (the timer, and the age a supervised account switches to “Most of YouTube”). Rated 4.9 on Google.

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● Checked 18 August 2026
● Under-13, and 13–17
● Google’s own steps

/01 — WHICH ONE?

Three setups, by age

Roughly 4–8: YouTube Kids. A separate app with its own age bands (“Preschool: ages 4 & under”, “Younger: ages 5–8”, “Older: ages 9–12”, or “Approve content yourself”), a passcode, a timer, and blocking. Search can be turned off entirely.
Roughly 9–12: a supervised account on the main YouTube app. A real Google account, created by you in Family Link, with a content level: Explore (“generally aligns with content ratings for viewers 9+”), Explore more (13+), or Most of YouTube (“almost all videos” except 18+). Google sets no default — you choose. Supervised children on the upper two levels can read comments but not write them.
13–17: a supervised teen account. New and worth knowing about: in the YouTube app, You > Settings > Family Centre > Invite a teen > Create invitation; the teen scans a QR code or link (they can equally invite you). Both sides have to agree, and either can turn it off. You then see the channels they own, their uploads, live-stream activity, comments and subscriptions, and can set take-a-break and bedtime reminders and a limit on Shorts scrolling.

Dorset Police have covered the social and chat apps 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 — YOUTUBE KIDS, STEP BY STEP

The Kids app: passcode, timer, blocking, search off

Get into the parent settings. Tap Settings in the corner of the screen and complete the multiplication problem, or enter your custom passcode.
Set your own passcode (do this first — the maths sum is not a lock, a nine-year-old can do it): Settings > the sum > Create passcode > a four-digit code > confirm. If you forget it, Google’s only reset is to uninstall and reinstall the app.
Timer: Settings > passcode > Set timer > slide to a time > START TIMER. To stop it early: Settings > passcode > EXIT TIMER. It’s a session timer, not a daily allowance — it starts when you start it.
Block a video or a whole channel: tap More at the top of the video > BLOCK > “Block this video” or “Block entire channel” > BLOCK > enter the numbers or your passcode. To undo everything: Settings > passcode > your child’s profile > parent password > UNBLOCK VIDEOS.
Turn search off: a parent setting; with it off “your child can’t search for videos” and the profile’s watch and search history is cleared. The “Approve content only” mode turns search off too.
Also in the parent settings: turn off autoplay, clear or pause watch and search history, and a “parent code” for the TV app.

/03 — SUPERVISED ACCOUNT, STEP BY STEP

Under-13 on the main YouTube app: the content level

Family Link app > select your child at the top left > Add child > follow the steps and give consent by signing in as yourself. (On a new Android device, choose Create account at sign-in, enter the child’s details, then sign in as parent to consent.)
Choose YouTube Kids or the supervised experience when asked.
Content level: Family Link > child > Controls > YouTube > Edit under YouTube settings (newer builds: Controls > Content restrictions > YouTube). Pick Explore / Explore more / Most of YouTube.
Or from YouTube itself, signed in as the parent: You > Settings > Family Centre > child > Edit next to Content settings.
Other supervised-account controls Google lists: block specific channels, clear or pause watch and search history, turn off autoplay; and under Family Centre’s Time management tab, take-a-break and bedtime reminders and a daily Shorts limit.

The trap: at 13, Google emails you and your child (“Ready to update your Google Account?”). Nothing changes until the child chooses to update — and by Google’s rule, a supervised child needs your approval to stop supervision until 18. But once they do update, YouTube’s protections change to the teen ones. Know that day is coming and have the conversation before it.

/04 — TEENS

Supervised teen accounts and the new age checks

For 13–17s YouTube’s answer is a supervised teen account: agreed by both sides (You > Settings > Family Centre > Invite a teen), reversible by either, and giving you visibility rather than a lock. Separately, since 2025 YouTube runs an age-estimation model in the UK: if it thinks a user is under 18 it blocks age-restricted videos, turns break and bedtime reminders on by default, shows only non-personalised ads and makes autoplay opt-in. An adult wrongly caught by it can prove age with government ID, a credit card or a selfie through their Google Account — do that on Google’s own pages, never from a link someone sends.

// 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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// GOOD QUESTIONS

Frequently asked

YouTube Kids or a supervised account — which is safer?

Kids is more restrictive: a walled app with age bands, a passcode, a timer and search-off. A supervised account is the real YouTube with a content ceiling you choose (Explore, Explore more, Most of YouTube) — more content, more risk of something slipping through, but far less rebellion from a ten-year-old who feels “too old for the baby app”. Most families move from Kids to supervised around 8–10.

What’s the default content level for a supervised account?

There isn’t one — Google’s own page says it sets no default, so you choose. If you skipped that screen, check it now: Family Link > child > Controls > YouTube.

Is the YouTube Kids maths sum a real lock?

No. It stops a five-year-old; it does not stop a nine-year-old. Set a custom four-digit passcode (Settings > the sum > Create passcode) — and write it down somewhere your child can’t find, because Google’s only reset is to reinstall the app.

Can I see what my teenager watches?

With a supervised teen account you see the channels they own and upload to, their live-stream activity, comments and subscriptions — not a minute-by-minute watch history. It has to be agreed by both of you and either can switch it off, which is by design: it’s visibility with consent, not surveillance.

My own YouTube keeps asking me to prove I’m over 18. Is that a scam?

Probably not — since 2025 YouTube estimates ages in the UK under the Online Safety Act, and adults it misjudges get asked to verify with ID, a card or a selfie. Do it only inside YouTube or your Google Account, never from a link in an email or message. If in doubt, ring us before you upload anything.

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.

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01202 775566 · help@365techies.co.uk · MON–FRI 9AM–5PM