Use parental controls on Google TV

Set up a children's profile on Google TV to choose which apps your children can use, and to set up bedtime reminders and screen time limits.

Children's profile may not be available in some regions or on some devices.

Set up and use a children's profile

Add a children's profile

From the Google TV home screen, go to your profile picture or initial.
Under 'Who’s watching', select Add a child Get started.
Select an option:
- If your child has a Google Account or children's profile in your family group: Select the child that you want to set up.
- If you haven’t set up a child in your family group: Select Add a child and follow the on-screen instructions.
Choose the apps that you want to include in the child's home screen.
To set up parental controls, follow the on-screen instructions.

Switch to a children's profile

From the Google TV home screen, go to your profile picture or initial.
Select the child’s profile.

Set up a profile lock

Important: With a profile lock, you have to enter the adult’s Google Account PIN or password to exit a children's profile. This is the same PIN or password that you use for Google Pay and other Google services.

From the Google TV home screen, select Settings Accounts and Sign in.
Select your child’s profile Profile lock.
To turn on 'Profile lock', verify your identity and enter your Google Account PIN or password.

What's on the Google TV children's profiles home screen

What you find on the Google TV home screen depends on where you live and the language that you choose for your device.

If you use a Google TV device in a country or region other than the one where you purchased it, your experience may vary.
In some regions or territories, your experience may vary.

What you’ll find

Your apps: Apps that a parent has allowed during onboarding or in the settings.
Popular movies and/or popular shows row(s): Popular family-friendly recommendations based on the apps that a parent has allowed. These apps aren't personalised and are based on the most popular titles available.
App-powered rows: Family-friendly recommendations from family-friendly apps that a parent has allowed.
Family Library rows: Purchased movies and shows that the parent has shared through Family Library and that follow the content restriction setting the parent sets.

Choose what and when your children can watch

Allow or block content or apps

Allow or hide apps

From the Google TV home screen, select Settings Accounts and sign in.
Select your child’s profile Manage apps.
- To allow apps: Next to the app, tick the blue box. Apps are installed automatically.
- To hide apps: Next to the app, untick the blue box.

Allow or block content based on rating

You can restrict what movies and shows appear in a children's profile when you set content restrictions for their account.

From the Google TV home screen, select Settings Accounts and Sign in.
Select your children’s profile Content restrictions.
Set the ratings limits for Movies and TV.

What these content restrictions apply to:

Google’s movie and show recommendations, which include the 'Popular movies' and 'Popular shows' recommendations, on children's profiles.
Content shared through your Family Library. Learn more about Family Library.

What they don't apply to:

Content recommendations directly provided by apps
Search results from apps

Tip: Apps may offer their own content restriction options.

Set a daily screen time limit

From the Google TV home screen, select Settings Accounts and Sign in.
Select your child’s profile Screen time Daily limit.
Select the days that you’d like to schedule a daily limit.
Choose how many hours your child can watch TV each day.
- You can set limits in intervals of 15 minutes, up to eight hours.

Set a daily bedtime

From the Google TV home screen, select Settings Accounts and Sign in.
Select your child’s profile Screen time Bedtime.
Select the days that you’d like to schedule a bedtime.
Select when your child’s TV time should start and end.
- Times are available in intervals of 30 minutes.

Add bonus time

When the daily watch time for your child ends, you can add bonus time:

From the timeout screen, select More time .
Select how much bonus time to add.
- You can add bonus time in intervals of 15 minutes, up to eight hours.
To confirm the bonus time, enter your Google Account PIN or password.

Manage your child's watchlist

Parents in a Google family group can add/remove movies and shows to/from their child’s watchlist to easily find content that they want them to watch later. This can be done from the parent profile, children's profiles, or on a web browser that's signed in with your child’s Google Account. Watchlists update across all of the devices that your child is signed in to when you add something to it.

Find your child’s watchlist

Use one of the following options to find your child's watchlist:

In a parent profile, go to the Library tab.
In the children's profile home screen, find the 'Watchlist' row.
In a web browser signed in with your child’s Google Account, search for: my watchlist.

Tip: A watchlist must have at least one movie or show to appear.

Add/remove movies and shows to/from a child’s watchlist

From a parent profile on a Google TV device:

From the home screen, find a title that you want to add to their watchlist.
On your remote, press and hold the Select button.
Select Add to watchlist .
Choose which children's profile on the device that you wish to add your movie or show to.
- The added movie or show will appear on the watchlist row in the children's profile that you specified, and to all of the devices that your child is signed in to.
To remove a movie or show from a children's profile, select Watchlisted the children's profile.
- The movie or show will be removed from the watchlist row in the children's profile that you specified, and from all of the devices that your child is signed in to.

From children's profiles on a Google TV device:

From the home screen, find a title that you want to add to their watchlist.
On your remote, press and hold the Select button.
Select Add to watchlist .
- The added movie or show will now appear on the watchlist row and across all of the devices that your child is signed in to.
To remove, select Watchlisted .
- The movie or show will now be removed from the watchlist row across all of the devices that your child is signed in to.

In a web browser signed in with your child’s Google Account:

On your web browser, go to google.com.
Search for a title.
Select watchlist .
- The added movie or show will appear on the watchlist row and to all of the devices that your child is signed in to.

Use parental controls on YouTube

Set up supervised accounts for YouTube

On your phone or computer, go to g.co/YourFamily.
Sign in to the Google Account that you use to manage your child’s account.
Select a child account from your family group.
- If you have a Google children's profile, then you may be prompted to create a Gmail address for your child. Follow the on-screen instructions.
Under 'Parent settings', select Settings on YouTube.
Select YouTube and YouTube Music (parent supervised) and follow the on-screen instructions.

About supervised accounts on YouTube:

You can set up supervised accounts on YouTube for children under 13 (or the relevant age in your country) in eligible countries.
Supervised accounts link to a parent's Google Account.
Learn how to limit the videos and music that children can play.
Learn how to block channels directly from the YouTube app.
Learn more about supervised accounts.

Hide or unhide library content

Hide library content

From your child’s profile, highlight the content that you want to hide.
On your remote, hold the select button.
Select Hide.

Unhide library content

From the Google TV home screen, select Settings Accounts and sign in.
Select your child’s profile Hidden movies and TV shows.
Find and select the content that you want to unhide.
To unhide the content, select Show.