Manage downtime in Screen Time on Mac
You can set a schedule for time away from the screen for you and your children. You can also turn downtime on or off as needed so you don’t have to change the schedule.
During downtime, if you try to use your Mac, you get a message informing you that it’s your scheduled downtime. If your child tries to access their device during downtime, they can request more time from you.
Before you can set up downtime, you need to turn on Screen Time. See Set up Screen Time for yourself or Set up Screen Time for a child.
Set up a downtime schedule
On your Mac, do one of the following:
If you’re using Family Sharing: Log into your Mac user account, then make sure you’re signed in with your Apple ID.
If you aren’t using Family Sharing: Log into a family member’s Mac user account.
Choose Apple menu
.If you’re using Family Sharing, click the pop-up menu in the sidebar, then choose a family member.
Click Downtime in the sidebar.
If scheduled downtime is off, click the Turn On button to the right of the downtime schedule status.
If the Turn On button is dimmed, you need to turn on Screen Time for the selected family member.
Do one of the following:
Set up the same downtime schedule for every day: Select Every Day, then enter the start and end times.
Set up a different downtime for each day of the week: Select Custom, then enter start and end times for each day.
If you want to block the device during downtime, select the Block At Downtime tick box.
This option is available only when you’re using a Screen Time passcode.
Turn the downtime schedule on or off
On your Mac, do one of the following:
If you’re using Family Sharing: Log into your Mac user account, then make sure you’re signed in with your Apple ID.
If you aren’t using Family Sharing: Log into a family member’s Mac user account.
Choose Apple menu
If you’re using Family Sharing, click the pop-up menu in the sidebar, then choose a family member.
Click Downtime in the sidebar, then do one of the following:
Turn downtime schedule on: Click the Turn On button to the right of the downtime schedule status.
Turn downtime schedule off: Click the Turn Off button to the right of the downtime schedule status.
Turn downtime on or off immediately
On your Mac, do one of the following:
If you’re using Family Sharing: Log into your Mac user account, then make sure you’re signed in with your Apple ID.
If you aren’t using Family Sharing: Log into a family member’s Mac user account.
Choose Apple menu
If you’re using Family Sharing, click the pop-up menu in the sidebar, then choose a family member.
Click Downtime in the sidebar, then do one of the following:
Turn downtime on: Click the Turn On button to the right of the downtime status.
Turn downtime off: Click the Turn Off button to the right of the downtime status.
When you turn on downtime for a child, they’re notified that downtime begins in 5 minutes.