How to set up YouTube's parental controls, restricted mode, and supervised accounts to keep your child safe while watching videos.
YouTube is the world's largest video-sharing platform, where users watch, upload and comment on videos on almost every topic imaginable.
Official age
13+
We recommend
13+
Developer
Google LLC
Risks
4
YouTube is the world's largest video-sharing platform with billions of hours of content covering every imaginable topic. Its recommendation algorithm is designed to maximise viewing time, which can lead children down rabbit holes of increasingly extreme or unsuitable content. Google offers supervised accounts and YouTube Kids as safer alternatives for younger viewers.
Children watch a vast range of content including gaming videos, music, tutorials, vlogs, and entertainment. The autoplay feature and recommendation sidebar encourage extended viewing sessions. Older children may also read and post comments, create their own channels, and subscribe to creators.
Restricted Mode
Location: Profile icon → Settings → General → Restricted Mode
Set to: On
Filters out potentially mature content. Enable it on every device and browser your child uses, as it is device-specific.
Supervised Account
Location: Google Family Link → YouTube Settings → Choose experience level
Set to: Set up with appropriate experience tier
Creates an account with content restrictions you manage. Choose from Explore, Explore More, or Most of YouTube depending on your child's maturity.
Autoplay
Location: Settings → Autoplay → Autoplay Next Video
Set to: Off
Prevents videos from automatically playing one after another, giving your child natural stopping points and reducing passive binge-watching.
Set up a supervised account through Google Family Link and choose the appropriate content tier for your child's age
Time: 15 minutes
Enable Restricted Mode on all devices your child uses and turn off autoplay
Time: 10 minutes
Discuss what to do if they come across an upsetting video and show them how to report content
Time: 10 minutes
In immediate danger: call 999. For non-emergency police matters, call 101.
Concerned about a child but it's not an emergency? NSPCC helpline 0808 800 5000. Childline for young people 0800 1111.
96%
of UK children aged 8 to 14 use YouTube in a typical month — more than any other online service.
Ofcom, 2025Myth: YouTube Kids means my child is safe on YouTube.
Fact: YouTube Kids helps, but many children use the main app, where the algorithm can surface unsuitable content and autoplay keeps them watching. Use a supervised account or YouTube Kids, and turn on Restricted Mode.
Myth: It’s just videos — there’s no contact risk.
Fact: Comments, live chat on streams, and links in descriptions can expose children to strangers and scams. Disable or limit comments and be cautious with livestreams.
Myth: If a video looks child-friendly, it is.
Fact: Some of the most troubling content on YouTube is dressed up as children's material — familiar characters and bright thumbnails wrapped around disturbing or wholly unsuitable videos, made to slip past both children and algorithms. Appearance is no guide, which is why staying within YouTube Kids or a supervised account matters more than trusting thumbnails.
The main YouTube app is meant for 13-plus, so at this age use YouTube Kids or a supervised account with an age-appropriate content setting, keep autoplay off, and have watching happen somewhere you can half-see the screen. Ask them to show you their favourite channels — it tells you a lot quickly.
This is the transition period: a supervised account with a stricter content setting bridges the gap until 13, when they can hold their own. Start talking about comments, Shorts and how recommendations work, because those shape the experience more than any single video.
Recommendation rabbit holes are the main risk now — feeds can drift towards extreme opinions, body-image content or endless Shorts without anyone choosing it. Ask what YouTube keeps recommending them, and if they want to start a channel, go through comments, privacy and what's identifiable on camera together.
Treat them as the adult viewer they nearly are: conversations about which creators they trust and why do more than any control, especially around health, money and political content from confident-sounding channels. If they're creating, sponsorship scams and comment-section pile-ons are the practical things to prepare for.
Full conversation guides: upsetting content talk, social media addiction talk
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