On Windows the account has to be created as a child account before the first login. Retrofitting it afterwards is the one step that cannot be undone cleanly, so the order below matters more than usual.

A shared family PC where everyone uses the same login is the common starting point, and it is the one configuration where none of this works. Windows attaches limits to a user account, so the first job is a separate account for the child. After that, almost everything else can be managed from a phone or a browser.

Before you start

Have the PC in front of you and a Microsoft account for yourself that will be the family organiser. The child's account must be created as a child account, because that is the one step that cannot be undone later, so get it right before installing anything.

The 5 steps

Add the child as a family member

On the PC open Settings → Accounts → Family and choose Add a family member, then Create one for a child and follow the prompts. On some builds the path reads Settings → Accounts → Family & other users → Add a family member → Add a child. Either way, the account must be created as a child, not converted later.

Have the child sign in once

The account only becomes manageable after its first sign-in on that PC. Do this while you are there: it is also the moment to decide whether the desktop keeps a browser other than Edge, because the web filters only cover Edge.

Turn on web and search filters

From the Family Safety app or family.microsoft.com, switch on the web and search filters. They apply to Microsoft Edge on Windows, on Xbox and on Android, and they filter both sites and search results. On any other browser they do nothing at all, which is the single most important limitation to understand here.

Set the screen time schedule

Screen time in Family Safety is a schedule rather than a countdown: you choose the hours the account may be used, per day, and can use one pattern all week or a different one each day. Set the school-night and weekend patterns separately; one figure for all seven days is what makes families abandon it in a fortnight.

Set app and game limits, and decide about spending

Add limits for individual apps and games (how long per day, and when they are allowed) and set how money works: adding a balance to the child’s account is more controllable than leaving a card attached. App limits extend across the Windows, Xbox and Android devices linked to the same family.

The filter only covers one browser

Web and search filtering in Family Safety works in Microsoft Edge. Install another browser and the filter is simply absent: no warning, no partial coverage. For a younger child the practical answer is to allow Edge and not the alternatives, which is a decision about app limits, not about the filter.

For an older child the honest position is that browser filtering is close to unenforceable, and the useful controls become time, purchases and the conversation. That is the same conclusion the unsafe websites guidance reaches from the other direction.

A schedule behaves differently from a countdown

Most parents expect a daily allowance that ticks down. Windows gives you windows of permitted time, which suits mornings and bedtimes well and suits “an hour, whenever” badly. Set the hours around the routine you already have rather than the routine you would like.

Because the same limits reach linked Xbox and Android devices, a change here is not a PC change, so check what else is attached to the family before tightening something.

What to set, by age

Under eight: a child account, Edge only, filters on, and a schedule that matches the day instead of a flat total. Purchases off entirely.

Eight to twelve: filters on, per-app limits on games, a balance instead of a card, and activity reporting enabled and mentioned out loud.

Thirteen and up: filters become porous and the argument moves to time and money. Keep the spending arrangement and the schedule; loosen the content side deliberately, not by neglect.

When the menu on your screen does not match

Windows splits these controls between Settings, the Family Safety app and family.microsoft.com, and Microsoft periodically moves an item from one to another. If a setting is missing where this page says, check the web dashboard before concluding it is gone.

If the child’s settings appear to have no effect, check they are signed into their own account and not an adult one on the same PC; this is by far the most common cause.
If web filtering seems to fail, confirm which browser is in use; anything other than Edge is outside the filter’s reach.

Questions about Windows PC parental controls

Can I convert an existing adult account into a child account?

No, and this is the step people most want to skip. The account has to be created as a child account. Moving the files across to a new account is tedious once and permanent, versus a limit that never quite works.

Do the limits cover games installed from outside the Microsoft Store?

App and game limits can cover installed programs, but a game launched through another store’s client is often counted as that client instead of the game. Limit the launcher, not the individual titles, when that happens.

Does this work on a school laptop?

If the laptop is managed by the school, its policies usually take precedence and your family settings may not apply. Assume the school device is out of scope and configure the home devices properly instead.

Will my child see that reporting is on?

Yes, and it is better that they do. Activity reporting presented openly is a conversation about time; discovered later it reads as surveillance and costs more than it returns.

Can screen time be extended for one evening?

Yes, from the app or the web dashboard, and the request can come from the child. Granting a short extension deliberately works better than a rigid schedule everybody eventually ignores.

Is a local account a way around this?

It is, and it is worth knowing that a child who can create a local account on the PC steps outside Family Safety completely. Do not grant administrator rights on the child account: that is the setting that closes this door.

Sources

Microsoft Support: set up Microsoft Family Safety · checked 2026-09-02
Microsoft Support: set screen time limits across devices · checked 2026-09-02

Windows parental controls: the child account and Family Safety