Use Screen Time on your Mac

With Screen Time, you can monitor usage, schedule downtime, and set limits across all your devices.

Use Screen Time to see how much time you and your kids spend on apps, websites, and more. Then make informed decisions about how you use your devices, and set limits if you'd like to.

To make sure that your Screen Time settings sync across devices, update all of the devices in your Family Sharing group to the latest software version before turning on Screen Time or changing your Screen Time settings.

Set up Screen Time on your Mac

When you turn on Screen Time, you can view reports that show app usage, how often your devices are used, and the number of notifications you receive. These reports can help you better understand how you spend time on your Mac and other devices.

Learn how to set up Screen Time for yourself

If you're using Family Sharing, you can use your own Mac, iPhone, or iPad that's signed into your account to remotely manage your child's Screen Time settings and monitor their device usage.

Learn how to set up Screen Time for a child

Use a Screen Time passcode

Set a passcode so that only you can change Screen Time settings and allow more time when app limits expire. If you're a parent, use this feature to set up enforceable content, communication, and privacy limits for your child.

Learn how to set, change, or remove a Screen Time passcode on your Mac

If you're setting a passcode while logged in to your administrator account, an alert explains that you should do this from a standard account and turn on File Vault for your computer. If you haven't set up a standard account for your child, you can either do that and log into their account, or choose from these options:

  • Allow this user to administer this computer. If you choose this option, the passcode affects the current user, even though they're also an administrator of this Mac. This isn't recommended, because administrators have macOS privileges that could allow them to work around passcode restrictions.

  • Don't allow this user to administer this computer. If you choose this option, you're prompted to enter your account password in order to modify your configuration. You're then guided through the steps to create a new administrator account—for use by the parent. The administrator account you're currently logged in to is converted to a standard account—for use by the child.

Track usage

Use the App Usage, Notifications, and Pickups features in the Screen Time sidebar to see how much time you spent using apps and websites.

Each feature offers several views:

  • To see usage for only one of your devices, choose a device from the menu at the bottom of the window.

  • To switch between days, click within the weekly chart, or use the arrow buttons above the chart. To see total usage by week, including how much more or less time you spent compared to last week, choose This Week from the date menu at the top of the window.

  • To see usage for a child account, choose the child's name from the menu in the upper-left corner.

Learn more about how to track app and device usage in Screen Time

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App Usage

See how much time you spent using each app. Click Categories to view usage by categories such as social networking, productivity, or entertainment. To see an app's category, click the information icon information icon that appears when your pointer is over an app in the list. Or click the app limit iconapp limit icon to quickly create a new app limit for that app or category.

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Notifications

See how many notifications you received from each app. Remember, you can use the devices menu at the bottom of the window to separate the notifications received on your Mac from the notifications received on your iPhone or iPad.

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Pickups

See how many times you picked up your iPhone or iPad, and which app you checked first after picking up the device.

Limit usage

Use the Downtime, App Limits, Communication Limits, Always Allowed, and Content & Privacy features in the Screen Time sidebar to schedule downtime and set limits on apps and websites. Limits apply to this Mac and all of your other devices that are using Screen Time and have “Share across devices” turned on.

To set limits for a child account, choose the child's name from the menu in the upper-left corner, then set up each feature.* Or do it from each of your child's devices.

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Downtime

Schedule periods during which you can use only the apps that you've allowed. A downtime notification appears 5 minutes before downtime starts. After downtime starts, the app shows a message saying that you've reached your limit on the app.

  • Click OK to close the app and honor the limit you've set. Or click Ignore Limit, then choose One More Minute, Remind Me in 15 Minutes, or Ignore Limit For Today.

  • If you've set a Screen Time passcode, downtime includes an additional setting: Block At downtime. When this setting selected and you click Ask For More Time when downtime starts, entering the passcode allows you to approve the app for 15 minutes, an hour, or all day. Child accounts can click One More Minute once, or click Ask For More Time to send their request to the parent account for approval.

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App Limits

Set the amount of time you want to be able use apps. You can set limits on specific apps, or entire categories of apps.

An app-limit notification appears 5 minutes before a limit is reached (expires). After the limit is reached, the app shows a window saying that you've reached your limit.

  • Click OK to close the app and honor the limit you've set. Or click Ignore Limit, then choose One More Minute, Remind Me in 15 Minutes, or Ignore Limit For Today.

  • If you've set a Screen Time passcode, App Limits includes an additional setting: “Block at end of limit.” When this setting is selected and you click Ask For More Time when a limit is reached, entering the passcode allows you to approve the app for 15 minutes, an hour, or all day. Child accounts can click One More Minute once, or click Ask For More Time to send their request to the parent account for approval.

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Communication Limits

Control who your children can communicate with throughout the day and during downtime. These limits apply to Phone, FaceTime, Messages, and iCloud contacts. Communication to known emergency numbers identified by your wireless carrier is always allowed. To use this feature, you must have Contacts turned on in iCloud preferences.

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Always Allowed

Allow use of certain apps even during downtime or when an app limit has been set for “All Apps & Categories.” Phone, Messages, FaceTime, and Maps are always allowed by default, but you can change that here.

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Content & Privacy

Restrict content, purchases, and downloads, or configure privacy settings. If you attempt to use one of the restricted items, you see a message explaining why you can't do it. For example, if you visit a blocked website, the message says that the website was blocked by a content filter. If you're using a Screen Time passcode, the message includes the option to click Allow Website. You can then enter the passcode to allow the website.

Approve Screen Time requests

The Screen Time sidebar includes a Requests section when you have unanswered requests from a child account. From here you can manage all requests from your child. Approve the request for 15 minutes, an hour, or a day. Or click Don't Approve.

Requests for approval also arrive as notifications, and you can approve directly from the notification.

* If you used your iPhone to set up an Apple Watch for a family member, you need a device with iOS 14 or iPadOS 14 or later to set up or adjust Screen Time for that watch.

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