Set up parental controls
As a parent, you want your kids to have a safe and happy experience on the Mac. Using Parental Controls preferences, you can manage, monitor, and control the time your kids spend on the Mac and the websites they visit.
Turn on parental controls
Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Parental Controls.
Open Parental Controls preferences for me
If you see the message “There are no user accounts to manage,” select “Create a new user account with parental controls,” then click Continue. Enter an administrator name and password (or if your Mac has a Touch Bar, use Touch ID). Click the Age pop-up menu, then choose an age. Fill in the name and password information, then click Create User.
If you see the message “Parental controls let you manage your children’s use of this computer, the applications on it, and the Internet,” click the lock icon
to unlock it. Enter an administrator name and password (or if your Mac has a Touch Bar, use Touch ID). Then select a user.If you previously turned parental controls on and off, click Enable Parental Controls.
If the user you want to manage isn’t in the list, click the Add button
to create a new user. Click the Age pop-up menu, then choose an age. Fill in the name and password information, then click Create User.
Set restrictions
Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Parental Controls.
Open Parental Controls preferences for me
Note: When you open Parental Controls preferences, if you see the message “There are no user accounts to manage,” select “Create a new user account with parental controls,” then click Continue. Enter an administrator name and password (or if your Mac has a Touch Bar, use Touch ID). Click the Age pop-up menu, then choose an age. Fill in the name and password information, then click Create User.
Click the lock icon
to unlock it, then enter an administrator name and password (or if your Mac has a Touch Bar, use Touch ID).Select a user, then click a button at the top.
Apps: Prevent the child from using the built-in camera and joining multiplayer games in Game Center. Restrict a child’s contact with other people through Mail. Specify which apps the child can access.
Web: Limit access to websites, or allow unrestricted access.
Stores: Disable access to the iTunes Store and the iBooks Store. Limit a child’s access to music, movies, TV shows, apps, and books to only those with age-appropriate ratings.
Time: Set time limits for weekdays, weekends, and bedtime.
Privacy: Allow the child to make changes related to privacy.
Other: Prevent the child from using Siri and Dictation, editing printer and scanner settings, and burning CDs and DVDs. Hide profanity in the dictionary and other sources. Prevent the Dock from being modified. Provide a simplified view of the Mac desktop.
Manage parental controls from another Mac
After you set restrictions for a child on a Mac, you can manage parental controls from a different Mac. Both computers must be on the same network.
On the Mac the child uses, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Parental Controls.
Open Parental Controls preferences for me
Note: When you open Parental Controls preferences, if you see the message “There are no user accounts to manage,” select “Create a new user account with parental controls,” then click Continue. Enter an administrator name and password (or if your Mac has a Touch Bar, use Touch ID). Click the Age pop-up menu, then choose an age. Fill in the name and password information, then click Create User.
Click the lock icon
to unlock it, then enter an administrator name and password (or if your Mac has a Touch Bar, use Touch ID).Don’t select the child’s account at this time.
Select “Manage parental controls from another computer.”
If you don’t see this option, there may be a user selected on the left side of Parental Controls preferences. Command-click the selected user so that no user is selected.
On the Mac you want to use to manage the child’s parental controls settings, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Parental Controls.
Click the lock icon
to unlock it, then enter an administrator name and password (or if your Mac has a Touch Bar, use Touch ID).Select the Mac the child uses.
Enter the administrator name and password for the Mac the child uses.
Select the user to be managed.
You can now change the child’s parental controls settings and monitor the activity logs.
Reuse parental controls settings
You can copy a user’s parental controls settings and apply them to another user.
Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Parental Controls.
Open Parental Controls preferences for me
Note: When you open Parental Controls preferences, if you see the message “There are no user accounts to manage,” select “Create a new user account with parental controls,” then click Continue. Enter an administrator name and password (or if your Mac has a Touch Bar, use Touch ID). Click the Age pop-up menu, then choose an age. Fill in the name and password information, then click Create User.
Click the lock icon
to unlock it, then enter an administrator name and password (or if your Mac has a Touch Bar, use Touch ID).Select the user whose settings you want to copy.
Click the Action pop-up menu
, then choose Copy Settings.Select the user to whom you want to apply the copied settings.
Click the Action pop-up menu
, then choose Paste Settings.
Turn off parental controls
Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Parental Controls.
Click the lock icon
to unlock it, then enter an administrator name and password (or if your Mac has a Touch Bar, use Touch ID).Select the user, click the Action pop-up menu
, then choose Turn off Parental Controls.