Learn how to set up parental controls and limit your child’s use of apps and features on your PS4™ system.
Parental controls and spending limits work alongside family management and play time controls to help you manage your child’s activity on PS4 and PlayStation™Network (PSN).
In order to set parental controls, you will need your own account for PlayStation Network and an account for each child. If you set up the child accounts, you will automatically be the family manager. If someone else sets up the child accounts, they can appoint you as a “guardian” to enable you to set parental controls and spending limits.
When setting parental controls, remember to adjust the system settings to prevent children from changing parental controls.
You can set parental controls from a web browser or on your PlayStation 4 system:
Web Browser
Sign in to Account Management > Family Management.
Select the child account you want to set restrictions for and select Edit to adjust each feature.
On your PS4 system, go to Settings > Parental Controls/Family Management > Family Management. You may need to re-enter your account password.
Select the child account you want to set restrictions for and select a feature to adjust.
Parental controls on PS4 allow you to restrict child account access to network features, applications and devices:
Set play time restrictions
Play time management gives family managers (and adult family members who are set as guardians) the ability to set limits on when, and for how long, each child can access PS4 systems.
Set monthly spending limits on PS4
If you set a spending limit for a child account, we will let that child spend up to that amount each month on PlayStation Store. The funds are taken from the family manager’s wallet.
Please note, if you are a “guardian” but not the family manager, let the family manager know what you are doing. If you are family manager, be aware that anyone you appoint as guardian can change the spending limits you have created.
Restrict communication and user-generated content on PS4
You can prevent child accounts from communicating with other players via chat, messages and game invitations. This setting also restricts viewing content created by other players on PS4. You can block videos, images, and text created by other users.
Note: Child accounts can request an exception to use communication features in a specific game.
Set age rating levels for games, Blu-ray™ and DVD on PS4
Games and videos are rated by age level to help parents figure out whether the content is appropriate for their child. Learn about age ratings before you adjust this setting.
Restrict use of Internet Browser
Restrict use of PlayStation® VR: PlayStation® VR is not for use by children under 12 years.
If the Communication and User-Generated Content is set to Not Allowed a child account can request an exception to use communication features in a specific game. Family manager or guardian will receive an email notification with this request and can choose to make an exception for a particular game without changing parental control settings.
Web browser:
Sign in to Account Management.
Go to Family Management > Allowed Games to approve the request. You will be able to disallow any allowed game at any time by selecting Don’t Allow.
Once a game title has been approved by a family manager the child account can use the communication features provided in the game (these could include messages, chat, viewing screenshots and videos). Communication features vary based on the game. PlayStation Network features will remain blocked.
Trend Micro Kids Safety is a web filtering service that prevents your child from seeing inappropriate or harmful material while using the Internet browser.* You can also purchase Trend Micro Web Security to help you avoid phishing and scam websites.
To sign up:
On your PS4 system, go to PlayStation Store and search for 'Trend Micro'.
Select the subscription you would like to sign up for and continue to check out.
If you would like both Kids Safety and Web Security you can sign up for a bundled subscription* by selecting 'Trend Micro for PlayStation 4'.
To enable:
On your PS4 system, go to Settings > Parental Controls/Family Management > PS4 System Restrictions > Web Filter > Trend Micro for PlayStation 4 Settings.
Enter the system restrictions passcode. If you haven't set this yet, the default is 0000.
Place a tick next to the filter you want to enable. Web filtering is now active.
* Please note that this is a rolling subscription with periodic billing. Please visit How to cancel a PlayStation Store subscription for more information.
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