Google Family Link parental controls, set up properly
Family Link is Google's free parental control system for Android phones, tablets and Chromebooks. It does most of what paid apps charge for. Here is how to set it up in one sitting, and the three settings people miss.
Family Link is Google's free parental supervision system for Android phones, tablets and Chromebooks. It is genuinely free — no premium tier, no upsell — and for most families it does the job a paid subscription is usually bought for.
The short version
Family Link is free and links a parent's Google account to a child's, giving app-level time limits, downtime schedules, app approval for downloads, SafeSearch and Play Store content ratings, Chrome site filtering, and device location. Setup takes about fifteen minutes. Its main limits: it manages Google's ecosystem well and third-party apps unevenly, in-app browsers can bypass Chrome filtering, and supervision behaves differently once a child turns 13.
At a glance
- SafeMama view
- Family Link is free and links a parent's Google account to a child's, giving app-level time limits, downtime schedules, app approval for downloads, SafeSearch and Play Store content ratings, Chrome site filtering, and device location. Setup takes about fifteen minutes. Its main limits: it manages Google's ecosystem well and third-party apps unevenly, in-app browsers can bypass Chrome filtering, and supervision behaves differently once a child turns 13.
- Easy swap
- Set downtime before anything else
The settings people miss
- Leaving in-app browsers unaddressed — Chrome filtering does not cover the browser built into other apps. A child can reach filtered content through a link opened inside a social or game app. Restricting which apps are installed matters more than the web filter.
- Forgetting the Play Store content rating — Separate from app approval. Without it, a child can install an age-inappropriate app that you then have to catch after the fact.
- Not setting downtime — The single highest-value setting and the most often skipped. A schedule removes the nightly negotiation entirely, because the device simply stops.
- Assuming it covers a school Chromebook — School-managed accounts are controlled by the school's admin console. Family Link generally cannot supervise them.
- Not knowing what changes at 13 — At 13 (the US minimum age for a standard Google account) a child can choose to leave supervision. You are notified, but you cannot prevent it.
What it is, and what it costs
Family Link is Google's free parental supervision system. You install it, link your Google account to your child's, and manage their Android phone, tablet or Chromebook from your own device.
It is free. There is no premium tier, and no upsell. For families on Android it does most of what paid monitoring apps charge a monthly subscription for.
Setting it up, once
Budget about fifteen minutes, and do it with the child's device in your hand.
1. Create or link the child's Google account. If they are under 13, Family Link will walk you through creating a supervised account. If they already have one, you send an invitation from the Family Link app and accept it on their device.
2. Set downtime first. Before anything else, set the hours the device is unavailable. This is the highest-value setting in the whole system, because it ends the nightly negotiation — the device stops on its own, and nobody has to be the enforcer.
3. Set daily limits, per app rather than overall. A blanket daily limit treats homework and short-form video identically. Per-app limits are where this gets genuinely useful: generous on reading and creative apps, tight on the ones that are designed not to end.
4. Turn on app approval. New installs require your yes. This is the setting that does the most real work, for the reason in the next section.
5. Set the Play Store content rating and SafeSearch. These are separate switches covering different surfaces — what can be installed, and what appears in search.
6. Decide about location. Family Link can show the device's location. Whether you use it is a judgment call about your child's age and your household, not a technical question.
The three things people miss
In-app browsers. Chrome's content filter does not cover the browser embedded inside other apps. A link opened inside a social or game app can reach content the Chrome filter would have blocked. This is not a bug you can configure away — it is why controlling which apps are installed is more reliable than trying to filter the whole web.
School Chromebooks. A device issued and managed by a school is controlled by the school's admin console, and Family Link generally cannot supervise it. If most of your child's screen time is on a school device, the conversation you need is with the school, not with Google.
What happens at 13. At 13 — the US minimum age for a standard Google account — a child can choose to end supervision. You are notified when it happens. You cannot prevent it.
That last one matters more than it sounds, because it tells you what this tool actually is. Family Link is excellent for younger children and becomes a shared agreement rather than a control as they approach their teens. Planning for that transition beats being surprised by it.
What it does not do
It does not read messages, and it does not monitor social media content. If that is specifically what you are after, Family Link will not do it and you are looking at a paid app — with the trade-offs that involves.
It also manages Google's own ecosystem far better than everything else. Coverage of third-party apps is uneven, and that unevenness is the honest limit of any free tool.
For iPhone and iPad, the equivalent is Screen Time. For what limits are reasonable in the first place, see how much screen time by age.
Safer alternatives
- Set downtime before anything else — Pick the hours the device is simply off. This does more for sleep and for household peace than any content filter.
- Use app approval rather than the web filter — Controlling what gets installed is more reliable than trying to filter the whole web, given in-app browsers.
- Turn on SafeSearch and the Play Store rating together — They cover different surfaces — search results and app installs — and neither substitutes for the other.
- Review the app list monthly, together — Doing it with your child rather than to them is the difference between a rule and a fight, and it keeps the tool honest as they get older.
Common questions
Part of the Parental Controls hub— the rest of our coverage in this category.