How to Set Parental Controls on a Mac
Introduction
- Setup separate accounts for your children
- Configure parental controls for your children
- Be at your Mac
- Have your macOS Administrator password
1 Parental Controls Separate Accounts Check

In order to properly use Parental Controls on your Mac, each user of the computer must have their own separate log in.
? Do you have separate user accounts for you and your child on your Mac?
- Setup separate accounts for your children
- Configure parental controls for your children
- Be at your Mac
- Have your macOS Administrator password

In order to properly use Parental Controls on your Mac, each user of the computer must have their own separate log in.
In order to use the Parental Control features, your child's account must be a "Managed" account.
Check for Managed Account
- Choose Apple menu > System Preferences.
- Select Users and Groups.
- Select the Lock icon in the corner to unlock Users & Groups.
- Enter your password and select Unlock.
- Look in the list on the left. Make sure one of the accounts listed shows it is "Managed".
- Choose Apple menu > System Preferences.
- Select Parental Controls.
- Select the lock in the bottom-left corner to make changes to the settings.
- Enter your password, and select Unlock.
- Select your child's account on the left.
Parental Controls
Each tab at the top provides access to areas you can limit access, set up filtering, and look at logs.
As your child uses their account on the computer, the computer keeps track of the programs they use, and how long they use them. Also, websites they visit using the Safari web browser are noted, so you can review this information to help keep an eye on what your child is up to.
- Choose Apple menu > System Preferences.
- Select Parental Controls.
- Select the lock in the bottom-left corner to make changes to the settings.
- Enter your password, and select Unlock.
- Select your child's account on the left.
- Select Logs on the bottom right.
Parental Control Logs
There are 2 tabs here to help you check what your child has been using on the computer. You can adjust how far back you want to look using the drop-down at the top.
To use Parental Controls on your Mac, your child's account must be a Managed account.
Converting Account to Managed Account
- Choose Apple menu > System Preferences.
- Select Users and Groups.
- Select the Lock icon in the corner to unlock Users & Groups.
- Enter your password and select Unlock.
- Highlight the account for your child, and place a check mark next to Enable parental controls.
- If the account was an Administrator account, a warning will show. Select Enable.A child's Managed account cannot be a Administrator account.
Create New User
- Choose Apple menu > System Preferences.
- Select Users and Groups.
- Select the Lock icon in the corner to unlock Users & Groups.
- Enter your password and select Unlock.
- Select the ➕ icon in the bottom left to create a new account.
- The New Account dialog will open. At the top, select the type of account you'd like to create.
Administrator An administrator can add and manage other users, install apps, and change settings. The new user you create when you first set up your Mac is an administrator. Your Mac can have multiple administrators. You can create new ones, and convert standard users to administrators.Standard Standard users are set up by an administrator. Standard users can install apps and change their own settings, but can’t add other users or change other users’ settings.Managed with Parental Controls Users who are managed with parental controls can access only the apps and content specified by the administrator managing the user. The administrator can restrict the user’s contacts and website access, and place time limits on computer use.Sharing Only Sharing-only users can access shared files remotely, but can’t log in to or change settings on the computer. To give the user permission to access your shared files or screen, you may need to change settings in the File Sharing, Screen Sharing, or Remote Management panes of Sharing preferences. - If you are creating an account that is Managed with Parental Controls, select the age range of the child.
- For all user types, enter the name of the user, the account name, and create a password and enter it twice.
You can also enter a Password hint, to give the user an idea if they happen to forget their password.
- Select Create User.
- You will see your new user appear on the list on the left.
Login Options
When you have multiple users, it's usually best to make sure your Mac is setup to require each user to log on to the computer.
- Choose Apple menu > System Preferences.
- Select Users and Groups.
- Select the Lock icon in the corner to unlock Users & Groups.
- Enter your password and select Unlock.
- Select Login Options at the bottom left.
- For Automatic login, select Off.
Using Separate Logins
When you're done using your computer, you can Log Out or Shut Down your computer.