Our Complete Guide to Mac’s Parental Controls
Set Up a Separate User Profile for Your Child
A separate User Profile is needed to apply Parental Controls.
- Begin by choosing the Apple Icon (top left of screen) > System Preferences, then click Parental Controls.
- You will 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 add your child. Enter your administrator name and password. Then select Unlock.
- Click the Add
button to create a new user profile for your child
- When the pop-up menu appears, choose an age, fill in the name and password information, then click Create User.
- Your child’s user profile is then created.
- If you have multiple children using this computer, then repeat the above steps beginning with clicking the button.
Set Restrictions
Select Child 1, then navigate to the top menu and select:
- Apps: Prevent your child from using the built-in camera and joining multiplayer games in Game Center. Restrict your child’s contact to people who you select in the Mail app. Select which apps you will allow
- Web: Limit access to websites, or allow unrestricted access. Link Guide to Web Filtering and Browsers
- 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: Disallow the child from making changes related to privacy.
You can copy a user’s parental controls settings and apply them to another user.
- Choose Apple icon > System Preferences, then click Parental Controls. Mac parental controls
- Click the lock icon to begin adding your child. Enter your administrator name and password
- Select the child whose settings you want to copy.
- Click the Action Pop-Up Menu , then choose Copy Settings for Child 2
- Select the child to whom you want to paste these copied settings.
- Click the Action Pop-Up Menu , then choose Paste Settings for Child.
