How to Configure Family Safety Settings in Windows 8

Today’s children are exposed to a lot of inappropriate content on the web. As a parent, it is up to us to ensure that our kids enjoy the internet without falling into its traps. Windows 8 offers easy-to-set-up Family Safety features that helps us regulate how long the kids are exposed to the internet, what sort of information they view, and so on. In this post, we take a look at how to create a unique user account for the kids and set up family safety measures for the said accounts.

How to Setup Family Safety Options in Windows 8

Ensure that you have administrative access to the PC.

1. Navigate to the Control Panel.

2. In the User Account and Family Safety section, click Setup Family Safety for any user.

3. In the Family Safety page, click Create a new user account. (This is assuming your child does not have a user account yet.)

4. In the Add a user page, you can do one of the following.

• Create an account with a Microsoft email address (hotmail, outlook or live accounts).
• Create a Microsoft account and then set up an account; or
• If you don’t want your child to use a Microsoft account, select Sign in without a Microsoft account.

In this tutorial I will be using the last option to create the child user account.

5. Select Local Account.

6. In the next screen, check the Is this a child’s account? Turn on Family Safety to get reports of their PC use checkbox.

7. To monitor the family settings of the child’s account, click the newly created account. In the Windows Settings section:

• Click Web filtering to control the websites your kid can access online.

• Click Time Limits to set the time when your kid can access the PC.

• Click Windows Store and game restrictions to allow or block Windows games and apps that your child can access.

• Click App Restrictions to restrict the Windows applications that your child can access.

Should you feel the need to check on your kids activities, you can click the View activity reports link.

If your child already has an account, simply activate the Family Safety settings option for the account Under Family Safety, tap or click On, enforce current settings. Then follow step 7.

Family safety settings in Windows 8 makes it easier to enforce the right restrictions on your child’s online activities.