PlayStation: the parent’s guide

PlayStation parental controls belong to your child’s account, not to the console, so the same limits follow your child to any PS5 or PS4 they sign in to. You set them as the family manager — on the console, on Sony’s Account Management website, or in the free PlayStation Family app on your phone. The app is also where your child’s requests arrive: for more playtime, for a blocked game, or for chat in one specific game.

Who can set the controls

Every PlayStation family has one family manager: the adult account that sets the family up. The family manager can appoint other adults in the family as a parent or guardian, and they can then set parental controls, see playtime and approve requests too. Each child needs their own child account, created with their own name and date of birth. Sony notes that child members cannot be removed from a family once added, and that the minimum age for a child account varies by country.

Where to find the settings

• PS5: Settings › Family and Parental Controls › Family Management, then select your child.
• PS4: Settings › Parental Controls/Family Management › Family Management, then select your child.
• Web: sign in to Account Management, select Family Management, select your child, then Edit.
• Phone: the PlayStation Family app (iOS 14 or Android 8 and later). Select your child at the top of the home screen, then the Settings icon next to their name.

Sony’s own advice: make sure your child has completed email verification and is signed in on their console, or the controls are not effective. If you change a setting while your child is mid-game, have them sign out and back in. Sony also recommends changing console settings so a child cannot change the controls; on a PS5, those console-wide settings sit under Settings › Family and Parental Controls › PS5 Console Restrictions.

Setup

1. Add your child to your family with their own child account and real date of birth.
2. Pick a restriction level (Child, Early Teens, or Late Teens or Older), then adjust single settings if needed.
3. Check the age level for games and apps.
4. Leave Communication and User-Generated Content on Restrict, and approve chat one game at a time when your child asks.
5. Set the monthly spending limit (it starts at 0).
6. Set a time zone, then Playtime Settings: daily duration, playable hours, and Log Out when playtime ends.
7. Decide who controls privacy settings: Parent/Guardian or Child.
8. Restrict web browsing, and restrict PlayStation VR for children under 12.

Restriction levels and game age ratings

PS5 offers three preset restriction levels. All three start with communication and user-generated content restricted, online content age filtering restricted, and a monthly spending limit of 0. Change any single setting and the level shows as Customize.

• Child: PS5 games and apps only if rated at or below your child’s age; PS4 and PS3 games rated 6 or 7 and under; web browsing and PlayStation VR restricted.
• Early Teens: PS5 games at or below your child’s age; PS4 and PS3 games rated 12 or 13 and under; web browsing restricted; VR not restricted.
• Late Teens or Older: PS5 games at or below your child’s age; PS4 and PS3 games rated 15 and under; web browsing and VR not restricted.

When your child tries to start a blocked game, the PS5 shows a screen where they can send you a request. You get a notification and an email, and can allow the game in the PlayStation Family app or under Allowed Games in Family Management.

Chat, messages and shared content

Setting Communication and User-Generated Content to Restrict switches off:

• sending text messages and voice chatting with other players (pre-written in-game messages still work);
• sharing screenshots, video clips and broadcasts your child makes;
• seeing other players’ user-generated content, including the personal description on their profile;
• linking some third-party services and apps that have chat or sharing features.

Your child can ask for an exception for one specific game. You approve or decline in the PlayStation Family app (Parental Controls › Online Communication) or on the web under Allowed Games › Communication. Before you say yes, check how that game handles chat. Sony says Roblox chat, for example, follows Roblox’s own age bands and parental settings, not the PS5 or PS4 controls. For game-specific settings, see our Call of Duty and Fortnite and Minecraft guides.

Privacy: who can find and contact your child

Under Privacy Settings you first choose who is in charge. With Parent/Guardian, you change your child’s privacy settings (and can let them change specific ones). With Child, your child changes them and you can only view. Either way, you are notified each time your child adjusts a setting. In the PlayStation Family app the privacy settings include who can ask to be your child’s friend, who can interact with them through parties, games and messages, who can see their online status and what they are playing, whether they receive crossplay invitations, and who can follow them.

Spending limits

Anything your child buys on PlayStation Store is paid from the family manager’s wallet. The monthly spending limit starts at 0, so nothing can be bought until you raise it. On a PS5: Family Management › select your child › Parental Controls › Monthly Spending Limit. In the PlayStation Family app, scroll to the Monthly Spending Limit widget, where you can also see the wallet balance and add funds.

Playtime limits

Playtime controls set when, and for how long, your child can play, for every day or for specific days of the week. Set a time zone for your child first, then open Playtime Settings. Three choices matter:

• Restrict Playtime: Restrict or Do Not Restrict.
• Duration and Playable Hours: how long, and between which hours.
• When Playtime Ends: Notify Only or Log Out. Notify Only sends a reminder; Log Out blocks further play.

Limits apply on both consoles if your child uses a PS5 and a PS4. Your child can select Ask for More Playtime from the PS5 reminder notifications; you can Change Playtime or Decline from your phone. You can also use Change Playtime for Today in the app or on the PS5.

Web browsing and PS VR2

Web Browsing is its own setting, and the Child and Early Teens presets already restrict it. Sony states that PlayStation VR and PlayStation VR2 are not for use by children under 12. Use of PlayStation VR and PlayStation VR2 is a separate setting: the Child preset restricts it, the two teen presets do not.

What the PlayStation Family app adds

Sony’s parent tools live in the free PlayStation Family app, which is separate from the regular PlayStation App. Besides the settings above, the Family app shows what your child is playing now and its age rating, a 7-day activity summary with their most-played games, and real-time requests you can approve or decline. Sony notes some family features are only available in the app.

Share Play and linked apps

Share Play lets a friend in a party see a player’s game and, in the “Visitor plays as you” mode, take over the controls. The host needs PlayStation Plus, starts Share Play from the party voice chat card by inviting a friend, and the session ends one hour after the visitor joins. Sony says a visitor younger than the game’s age rating cannot join, and a visitor whose parental controls restrict Share Play needs an exception from their parent.

If your child links a third-party service or app to their PlayStation account, you get a notification. Services and Apps, in their parental controls, lists what is linked.

Honest limits

• Controls only work while your child is signed in to their own verified account.
• Any adult you appoint as a parent or guardian can change the limits you set, including the spending limit.
• Some games run their own chat and safety settings (Roblox is Sony’s own example), so check those separately.
• Age Filtering for Online Content is only available in some countries or regions.