Use Screen Time on your Mac
With Screen Time, you can monitor usage, schedule downtime and set limits across all of your devices.
Use Screen Time to see how much time you and your children spend on apps, websites and more. Then make informed decisions about how you use your devices and, if you'd like to, you can set limits.
To make sure 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.
Find out 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 in to your account to remotely manage your child’s Screen Time settings and monitor their device usage.
Find out 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.
Find out 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 will explain 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 in to 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 will be prompted to enter your account password in order to modify your configuration. You will then be guided through the steps to create a new administrator account for the adult to use. The administrator account that you're currently logged in to will be converted to a standard account for the child to use.
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 weekly usage, including how much time you spent compared with 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 top left-hand corner.
Find out more about how to track app and device usage in Screen Time
App Usage
See how much time you have spent using each app. Click Categories to view usage by category, such as social networks, productivity or entertainment. To see an app's category, click the information icon
that appears when your pointer is over an app in the list. Or click the app limit icon
to quickly create a new app limit for that app or category.
Notifications
See how many notifications you have 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.
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 top left-hand corner, then set up each feature.* Or do it from each of your child's devices.
Downtime
Schedule periods during which you can use only the apps that you've allowed. A downtime notification appears five minutes before downtime starts. After downtime has started, the app shows a message saying that you've reached your limit on the app.
Click OK to close the app and honour 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 has been 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.
App Limits
Set the amount of time you want to be able use apps for. You can set limits on specific apps or entire categories of apps.
An app limit notification appears five minutes before a limit is reached (expires). After the limit has been reached, the app displays a window stating that you've reached your limit.
Click OK to close the app and honour 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 has been selected and you have clicked Ask For More Time when a limit has been 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.
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 with known emergency numbers identified by your network provider is always allowed. To use this feature, you must have Contacts turned on in iCloud preferences.
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.
Content & Privacy
Restrict content, purchases and downloads, or configure privacy settings. If you attempt to use one of the restricted items, you'll see a message explaining why you can't. For example, if you visit a blocked website, the message states that the website was blocked by a content filter. If you’re using a Screen Time passcode, the message will include 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 of the requests that you have been sent by 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 these directly from the notifications.
* If you’ve used your iPhone to set up an Apple Watch for a family member, you’ll need a device with iOS 14 or iPadOS 14 or later to set up or adjust Screen Time for that watch.
