PlayStation parental controls, step by step

What you need before touching PlayStation settings

• An adult PlayStation Network account (you become the 'family manager')
• A separate child account for each child, with their real name and date of birth, added to your family
• Optional: the PlayStation Family app (iOS/Android, launched September 2025) or a web browser (Account Management > Family Management)

Setting up PlayStation controls, step by step

1. Create a family and add a child - web: sign in to Account Management, select Family Management > Set Up Now > Add a Child (or Add Family Member > Add a Child). On PS5: select your profile icon (top right) > Switch User > Add User > Get Started > Create an Account.
2. On PS5, sign in as the family manager and go to Settings > Family and Parental Controls > Family Management.
3. Select the child and set their Time Zone first (playtime controls need it).
4. Select Parental Controls and choose a preset - Child, Early Teens or Late Teens or Older - then adjust individual settings (Age Level for Games, Web Browsing, Communication and User-Generated Content, etc.).
5. Select Monthly Spending Limit and set an amount (default is 0).
6. Select Playtime Settings: set Restrict Playtime, When Playtime Ends (Notify Only or Log Out) and Duration and Playable Hours, then Save.
7. Go to Settings > Family and Parental Controls > PS5 Console Restrictions, enter the current passcode (default 0000) and select Change Your Console Restriction Passcode.
8. In PS5 Console Restrictions, set User Creation and Guest Login to Not Allowed.

Every PlayStation control, in plain English

Stopping surprise spending on PlayStation

• Settings > Family and Parental Controls > Family Management > [child] > Parental Controls > Monthly Spending Limit (default is 0).
• Child purchases are paid from the family manager's wallet up to that limit.
• Can also be set from the PlayStation Family app or on the web (Family Management > child > Edit).

More on how money works inside games in Money in games.

Who can message your child on PlayStation

• Parental Controls > Communication and User-Generated Content > Restrict: blocks text messages and voice chat with other players and sharing of user-generated content.
• The child can request an exception for a specific game; approve or decline it in the PlayStation Family app, on the web, or from PS5 Notifications.

For the wider picture, see Chat & strangers.

PlayStation play-time limits and bedtimes

• Set the child's Time Zone, then Playtime Settings: Restrict Playtime, When Playtime Ends (Notify Only / Log Out), Duration and Playable Hours.
• The child can Ask for More Playtime from the reminder notifications; you can use Change Playtime for Today in the PlayStation Family app or on PS5.
• Limits apply across PS5 and PS4 if the child uses both.

Routines that make limits easier to keep are in Time & routines.

Where PlayStation set-ups usually go wrong

• Each child needs their own child account - restrictions are on the account, not the console.
• Set the Time Zone before playtime controls, or they can't be adjusted.
• Without a console restriction passcode, or with User Creation and Guest Login allowed, a child can get round controls by making a new user or logging in as a guest.
• If you forget the console restriction passcode, you have to reset the PS5.
• Child members can't be removed from a family - they stay until they're old enough to upgrade to an adult account.
• After changing playtime, the child must sign out and back in for it to apply.