Use parental controls on Google TV

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

Kids profiles may not be available in some regions or on some devices.

Set up & use a kids profile

Add a kids profile

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

Switch to a kids profile

From the Google TV home screen, go to your profile picture or initial.
Select the kid’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 kids 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 & Sign In.
Select your kid’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 kids profiles home screen

What you find on the Google TV home screen depends on where you live and the language 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 personalized 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 follow the content restriction setting the parent sets.

Choose what & when kids can watch

Allow or block content or apps

Allow or hide apps

From the Google TV home screen, select Settings Accounts & Sign In.
Select your kid’s profile Manage apps.
- To allow apps: Next to the app, check the blue box. Apps are installed automatically.
- To hide apps: Next to the app, uncheck the blue box.

Allow or block content based on rating

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

From the Google TV home screen, select Settings Accounts & Sign In.
Select your kid’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 kids 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 & Sign In.
Select your kid’s profile Screen time Daily limit.
Select the days you’d like to schedule a daily limit.
Choose how many hours your kid can watch TV each day.
- You can set limits in intervals of 15 minutes, up to 8 hours.

Set a daily bedtime

From the Google TV home screen, select Settings Accounts & Sign In.
Select your kid’s profile Screen time Bedtime.
Select the days you’d like to schedule a bedtime.
Select when your kid’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 kid 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 8 hours.
To confirm the bonus time, enter your Google Account PIN or password.

Manage your child's watchlist

Parents in your Google Family Group can add or remove movies and shows to their child’s watchlist to easily find content you want them to watch later. This can be done from the parent profile, kids profiles, or on a web browser that's signed in with your child’s Google Account. Watchlists update across all of the devices 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 kids 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 at least have one movie or show to appear.

Add or remove movies & shows to a child’s watchlist

From a parent profile on a Google TV device:

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

From kids profiles on a Google TV device:

From the home screen, find a title 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 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 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 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 you use to manage your child’s account.
Select a child account from your family group.
- If you have a Google Kids 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 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 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 & Sign In.
Select your kid’s profile Hidden movies & TV shows.
Find and select the content you want to unhide.
To unhide the content, select Show.

Was this helpful?

How can we improve it?