Managing and keeping your family safe online is one of the most important aspects of online gaming, making it possible for you and any other console user to play safely on your console.
With Xbox, setting up parental controls and adjusting them to best suit you and your family gives you peace of mind, with simplified and accessible ways to create parental controls.
But what parental control features are available for Xbox Series X|S and how are they configured? Let’s find out.
What parental controls are available for your Xbox Series X|S
Xbox offers you two main ways to manage your Xbox Series X|S parental settings, through your console settings or the Xbox Family app on Android or iOS devices. By using these provided methods, Xbox gives you access to the following parental settings:
- Manage screen time for family members on Xbox.
- Control spending preferences to avoid unfortunate spending mishaps.
- Restrict the content that family members can access.
- Setting security preferences to control what aspects of your Xbox can be accessed.
While these parental features are fully available on Xbox Series X|S, they can also be used on any Xbox One console. All that is required to use parental settings on Xbox is access to Xbox One or Series X settings. |S now the Xbox Family Settings app.
How to set up parental controls for Xbox Series X|S through the Xbox Family app
The best way to set and manage your parental controls on Xbox is to install the Xbox Family Settings app from the google play store either app store.
Once the app is installed, you need to sign in to your Microsoft account. Once you sign in, you can start adding family members to your account. To add a family member, follow these steps:
- highlight the Family inside the Xbox Family Settings app and select Edit.
- Select the symbol at the top right to add a family member.
- Choose add child.
- Select Add existing account either Create a new account.
- Enter the required Microsoft account information and select the Years of his attached relative.
- Confirm who your family member can contact by selecting All the world, Just friendseither None.
- Confirm if you want the family member to be able to play multiplayer by selecting Let either Block.
Once you have successfully added your family member and their details, you can start setting up your parental controls.
Using the Xbox Family Settings app to control screen time
One of the most useful parental controls available through the Xbox Family Settings app is the ability to view and limit how long your family members can access your Xbox at any given time. To see or limit your family member’s screen time on Xbox, follow these steps:
- From the Family Xbox Family Settings app tab, select the desired family member.
- Select the top option to screen time to see your current time playing Xbox.
- To add a limit to your screen time allowance, adjust the options to Day, Time limitY Time interval under the Calendar section.
By setting specific screen time for your family members, you make sure they can only play during the time you allot, preventing them from playing for too long or when they’re not supposed to.
Using the Xbox Family Settings app to track spending
Parental spending controls on Xbox put you in control of purchases and prevent unfortunate spending habits. By selecting your desired family member from the Family Xbox Family Settings app tab, and then selecting SpentYou can configure the following spending controls:
- Control how much money a family member can spend by selecting Account balance to provide a specific amount for spending.
- Qualification ask to buy so that you receive notifications when your family member wants to buy an item from the store.
- Visit spending history to ensure that there are no transactions of which you are unaware.
These parental controls could prove especially useful against predatory spending practices. With the idea that microtransactions ruin the gaming industry and attract overspending, these parental controls should help prevent any unfortunate spending.
Using the Xbox Family Settings app to set content restrictions
Setting specific content restrictions for your family members helps keep you safe online by hiding inappropriate content from family members.
By highlighting the Family section of the application, choose a family member and select content restrictionsYou can set the following parental controls:
- Control what old content the family member can see by selecting Allow age-appropriate content [user’s age].
- Control whether family members can upload or view creations online using the View and upload community creations options
- Change restricted content preferences for specific games using the always allowed eyelash.
By taking advantage of the Xbox Family Settings app, you can adjust or configure more or less any parental controls at any time and for any member of the family, but what if you want to set parental controls from your console?
How to set up parental controls on your Xbox
While the Xbox Family Settings app allows you to adjust and configure most parental controls, some parental features can be adjusted directly from your console. To adjust parental controls on your Xbox, you’ll need to go to family settings.
To access the family settings on your Xbox console, follow these steps:
- Press the Xbox button to open the Guide menu.
- Navigate to the tab Profile and system and select settings.
- Highlight Billand select family settings.
From here, you can view and adjust settings specific to family members, including setting login and PIN preferences and adding or removing family members.
How to set up parental login and security preferences from your Xbox
One of the most useful parental controls available directly through your Xbox is setting sign-in and security preferences to customize how users sign in and whether they require a password when using certain features.
To modify your Xbox security preferences and choose whether users require passwords for specific actions, follow these steps:
- From the family settings page, select My login, security and PIN.
- Select Change my login and security preferences.
From here, you can select four different options for sign-in preferences that will influence what your family members can access on your Xbox. Select one of the following:
- To allow family members full access to your Xbox, select without barriers.
- To make sure that family members have to provide a six-digit PIN when they try to change a setting, make a purchase, or access Microsoft Edge, select ask for a pin.
- To ensure that family members are prompted for their account password when signing in, making a purchase, starting Microsoft Edge, or trying to change settings, select block it.
- To set each time features require a password or pin individually, select personalized.
With login preferences set up on your console, you can be sure that family members can’t access aspects of your console whose security information they don’t know.
Manage your family members from your Xbox
In addition to sign-in preferences, you can also manage family members affected by your parental controls directly through your Xbox. To add or remove family members from your Xbox, follow these steps:
- From the family settings page, select Manage family members.
- To remove a family member, choose an existing user and select remove from familyor, to add a new family member, select add to family.
After entering the required account information for the existing or new Microsoft account, the family member is linked to their parental control options directly from their console.
With parental controls set up and enabled on your Xbox, you can also look to Xbox game sharing across all your family’s consoles and accounts to avoid having to buy the same game multiple times.
Keep family members safe online with Xbox parental controls
Now that you know everything there is to know about the available Xbox methods to set up and adjust parental controls on Xbox, you can ensure the safety of any family member online based on your own needs and requirements.
And, with predatory-style microtransactions on the rise in popular free-to-play games, Xbox parental controls could be a much-needed help in ensuring sensible gaming practices online.