iTunes: Using Parental Controls

  • Last Modified: September 23, 2009
  • Article: HT1904
  • Old Article: 302251

Summary

iTunes has parental controls in iTunes Preferences that allow you to set content restrictions.

Products Affected

iTunes Store, iTunes

For example, you can restrict explicit content from displaying in the iTunes Store. You can also disable podcasts, radio content, the iTunes Store, and shared music so that these items don't appear on the left side of the iTunes window.

iTunes 9 Parental Controls

iTunes 8 Parental Controls

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iTunes 7 Parental Controls

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Note: Parental Controls will need to be configured for each user account you want to have limited access.

Setting Parental Controls

To set parental controls on your computer, follow these steps:

  1. In iTunes, open iTunes preferences. Mac users: From the iTunes menu, choose Preferences. Windows users: On the Edit menu, click Preferences.
  2. Click the Parental tab.
  3. Select the checkbox next to any item you wish to disable or restrict.
  4. iTunes 7.7 or later only: To change a rating level of TV Shows, Movies and Games choose a rating level from the pop-up menu.
  5. Click the lock icon to prevent users from making changes.
  6. Type your administrator password in the resulting dialog, then click OK (You'll need to know the administrator's account name and password).
  7. Click OK to close iTunes preferences and have your changes take effect.

If you want to make changes to your restrictions, open iTunes preferences, click the Parental tab, click the lock icon, and enter your administrator password in the resulting dialog to unlock the parental controls. You can then make any desired changes.

Additional Information

  • Disabling the iTunes Store in parental controls will also disable the MiniStore in iTunes 7 and Genius in iTunes 8 and 9.
  • Parental controls are available in iTunes 5 or later.
  • For more information on explicit content and parental advisories on the iTunes Store, please see About iTunes Store Parental Advisories.
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