How to Set Up Chromebook Parental Controls With Family Link

To set up parental controls on a Chromebook, use Google Family Link with your child's Google Account. Add the supervised account to the Chromebook, turn off guest access, choose the websites and apps your child can use, set screen-time limits, then configure YouTube separately. If the Chromebook belongs to a school, the school administrator's policies come first.

Personal Chromebook or school Chromebook?

If you bought the Chromebook and your account is the owner, you can add the child's supervised account, disable guest browsing and control who can sign in. That is the straightforward Family Link setup.

A school-issued Chromebook is managed by the school's Google Workspace administrator. The school decides which services and settings are available. You cannot override those policies from Family Link. Google explains this boundary in its child-account documentation. If you are unsure, ask the school whether personal supervised accounts are allowed before adding one.

Set up Family Link on a Chromebook

Google supports Family Link on Chromebooks running ChromeOS 71 or later. Start on the parent device, then add the supervised child account at the Chromebook sign-in screen.

1. 1Create or supervise your child's Google Account in the Family Link app on the parent device.
2. 2On the Chromebook sign-in screen, add the child's Family Link-managed Google Account.
3. 3Approve the sign-in with the parent account when Google asks for permission.
4. 4If supervision was added to an existing child account, restart the Chromebook to finish applying it.
5. 5Sign in as the child and confirm that Family Link controls appear before handing the device over.

Google's official setup steps also note that a parent password is required to add new users after the child signs in.

Disable guest mode and extra users

Family Link follows the supervised Google Account. If the child can switch to guest mode or add another user, those account controls may not apply. Google recommends that the Chromebook owner disable guest browsing and restrict sign-in to approved users.

Choose what websites your child can visit

In Family Link, select your child, then open Controls and Google Chrome and web. You can allow all sites except blocked ones, try to block explicit sites, or allow only sites you approve. Google says no filter is perfect, so the middle option still needs occasional checking.

Be careful with website and domain rules. Allowing or blocking one exact website does not automatically cover every subdomain or country version. A domain rule is broader. The Google example shows why a rule for one www address may not cover another Google subdomain.

You can also stop the child from granting new site and extension permissions. Permissions already granted remain in place, so review the existing list instead of assuming the switch removes old access.

Set screen time, apps and extensions

Family Link can set daily limits and downtime for a Chromebook, lock or unlock the device, and add bonus time without rewriting the normal schedule. Google's screen-time guide says limits apply per device. A two-hour limit on two devices can mean two hours on each one, not two hours shared between them.

App limits work for supported Android apps on ChromeOS, but Google excludes system apps. Review Play Store approvals, app permissions and extensions separately. If the goal is only to control YouTube time, read our YouTube time-limit guide before applying a broad device lock.

Set YouTube controls on Chromebook

YouTube is the awkward part. Family Link manages the account and Chromebook, while YouTube's supervised experience chooses a broad content level for the child. Parents can block a known channel, but Google notes that this does not block reuploads or similar channels.

Read Google's supervised channel-blocking guide before relying on channel blocking as a whitelist. It is a reactive control: you block channels after identifying them.

YouTube Kids has an "Approve content yourself" setting that limits a child to parent-approved videos, channels or collections and turns off search. Google documents it in the YouTube Kids profile controls.

If you are deciding between YouTube Kids and the main supervised experience, our YouTube supervised account guide compares the content levels, comments, Shorts and channel controls.

Add a school account without dropping supervision

On ChromeOS 89 or later, Family Link controls can apply when the child's supervised personal Google Account is the primary account and the school account is added as a secondary account. This lets the child use services such as Google Classroom while signed into the supervised Chromebook profile.

Do not add the school account as a separate user on the Chromebook sign-in screen if you expect Family Link to cover it. Google says Family Link controls will not apply to that separate user. Follow its school-account instructions and remember that the school administrator still controls the services available to the school account.

What Family Link cannot do on a Chromebook

Family Link is useful, but the limits matter. It does not turn a Chromebook into a live-monitoring tool or make every Google filter exact. It also cannot override the school's management policy.

• It cannot make the explicit-site filter perfect. Google says unsuitable sites can still slip through.
• It cannot apply controls to guest or unrelated user sessions. The supervised account needs to be the one in use.
• It cannot override school administration. Workspace administrators decide what a school account can access.
• It cannot turn standard supervised YouTube into an approval-first channel library. YouTube uses content levels and individual blocking.
• It cannot place app limits on ChromeOS system apps. Device time limits may be the broader fallback.

Where Kivvie fits

Kivvie child viewing is currently documented for iOS and Android, not ChromeOS. We have not verified or documented the child app as a Chromebook product, so this guide does not tell you to install Kivvie on ChromeOS.

If your child also watches on a supported phone or tablet, the two tools can work side by side. Family Link manages the Chromebook, account rules and screen time. Kivvie on the child's supported mobile device shows only channels the parent approved and removes Shorts, comments and open-ended recommendations from that player.

See the current Kivvie Android and Family Link setup or learn how to create a parent-approved YouTube channel list.

Final setup check

Common questions