How to Set Up Parental Controls on the Mac

When children are using the computer, do you worry about they would deleting your important files, damaging the installed applications, using the computer for a long time or mistakenly visiting some unsafe websites? As a parent, you should know how to set up a parental control on the Mac, and make sure your kids have a safe and happy experience on the computer.

What’s Parental Controls on the Mac?

Parental Control is a default feature on the Mackintosh computer, it allows the parents to set an particular account for the users, and through which the parent can control the apps and content their kids can use or view, set time limits on the computer usage, and the parent also can monitor and keep informed about how the Mac being used by their children.

How to set up a parental control on Mac

Section 1: set up an account for your kids

• Click on Go on the top menu, and select System Preferences
• Click on Parental Controls in the System Preferences window
• Click on Lock icon at the bottom left corner, and enter your account’s password and click Unlock
• Click the Add (+) icon to add a new account, enter the your kid’s name and set a new password
• Click Create Account

Section 2: turn on parental controls

• Continue to click on System Preferences on the Apple menu
• Click Parental Controls in the “System” section, and then the Parental Controls preferences will be opened
• Click the lock icon to unlock it, enter your administrator’s name and password as required
• Select your kid’s account you just created, and click Enable Parental Controls

Section 3: set restrictions to the parental control account

• Still in the Parental Controls window, select the kid’s name on the sidebar
• There are several tabs along the top, and you can start to set the restrictions in each tabs:

Apps: select the apps your kid can access and use, and your child will only be able to use these apps on your computer.

Webs: set a limit access or unrestricted access to websites

Stores: set a age restriction on the apps that can be downloaded from App Stores

Time: set time limits of access to the Mac for weekdays, weekends, and even the bedtime

Other: besides the specific restrictions on the above tabs, there are still a lot of aspects that you can set a specific limit for your kid on the Other tab, such as the limits of using built-in camera, burning CDs and DVDs, using printer, and the Dictation