iPhone Screen Time: lock down your child's iPhone, step by step

An iPhone has some of the most thorough parental controls going, and they're free. They're just buried in Settings under names that make sense to Apple rather than to parents. This guide walks you through them in order, from your own iPhone, so you never need to prise your child's phone out of their hand to change something. It's written for iOS 26, the current version; if your menus look slightly different, you're probably on an older version and the same options will be close by.

If your child has an Android phone instead, see our Google Family Link guide. For the bigger picture — which controls matter most, and why a conversation still beats any setting — start with our parents' guide to locking down a phone.

Before you start: what you need

• Your own iPhone, signed in to your Apple Account.
• Your child's iPhone, charged and nearby for the first set-up.
• About 30 minutes, and a four-digit code your child won't guess (not their birthday, not yours).

Step 1: give your child their own account through Family Sharing

Everything below works best when your child has their own Apple Account inside your Family Sharing group, with you as the parent. Apple says parents or guardians have to create the account for children under 13 (the age varies by country). When you create a child account you enter their date of birth, and Apple uses it to set sensible content limits straight away. For children under 18, Apple turns on Communication Safety and web content limits by default.

1. On your iPhone, open Settings and tap Family.
2. Tap the Add Member button.
3. Tap Create Child Account, then Continue.
4. Enter your child's name and date of birth, and follow the instructions on screen.
5. Sign in to your child's iPhone with the new account.

Step 2: open Screen Time for your child

Every setting in this guide starts from the same place:

1. Open Settings on your iPhone.
2. Tap Screen Time.
3. Scroll down and tap your child's name under Family.

If Apple asks you to turn on App & Website Activity, say yes. It's what makes the limits below work, and it lets you see how the phone is actually being used.

Step 3: lock the settings with a Screen Time passcode

Do this early. Without it, every limit below can simply be ignored once it's reached. With it, your child has to ask you.

1. In your child's Screen Time settings, scroll down and tap Manage Screen Time.
2. Tap Lock Screen Time Settings.
3. Enter a four-digit passcode twice.

Make it different from the code that unlocks your child's phone. If they ever learn it, you can change it from the same screen, and on recent versions of iOS you'll get a notification whenever the code is used on their phone.

Step 4: set bedtime and school hours (Downtime)

Downtime is a schedule when most apps go dark, apart from calls, messages and any apps you choose to allow.

1. In your child's Screen Time settings, tap Downtime.
2. Tap Scheduled, then choose Every Day or Customize Days (Apple's spelling; handy if weekends are different).
3. Set the start and end times, for example 8.30pm to 7am.
4. Turn on Block at Downtime, so apps can't be opened at all rather than just showing a reminder.

Step 5: set daily time limits (App Limits)

1. Tap App Limits, then Add Limit.
2. Pick a category, such as Games or Social Networking, or tap a category to choose individual apps.
3. Tap Next and set the time allowed each day. Use Customize Days for weekends.

When a limit runs out, your child can send you a request for more time. You can say yes or no from Messages or from Screen Time on your phone.

Step 6: choose who they can talk to (Communication Limits)

1. Tap Communication Limits, then During Screen Time.
2. Choose Contacts Only for most younger children. The middle option also allows group chats that include at least one of their contacts; Everyone allows unknown numbers.
3. Go back and tap During Downtime. Here you can narrow it to Specific Contacts, such as just you and a grandparent.

On the same screen you can turn on Manage [child]'s contacts to see and edit their contacts list from your phone. Your child has to approve that once on their device.

Step 7: block app downloads, purchases and adult content

1. Tap Content & Privacy Restrictions and turn it on.
2. Tap iTunes & App Store Purchases and set the options for installing apps and in-app purchases to Don't Allow. Nothing new can be installed without you.
3. Tap App Store, Media, Web & Games, then Web Content. Choose Limit Adult Websites, or Only Approved Websites for younger children. You can also add specific sites to Never Allow.
4. Under Allow Changes To, set Passcode & Face ID and Accounts to Don't Allow, so the phone's own settings can't be used to undo yours.

Ask to Buy

If you'd rather approve downloads one by one than block them outright, use Ask to Buy instead. Open Settings, tap Family, tap your child's name, then Ask to Buy, and turn on Require Purchase Approval. Each request, even for a free app, pops up on your phone for a yes or no. In some countries Apple switches this on by default for under-18s and won't let you turn it off.

Step 8: see where they are

1. Open Settings, tap Family, then Location Sharing.
2. Turn on location sharing with your child. They'll get a message and can share theirs back.
3. Open the Find My app to see them on a map. You can also get a notification when they arrive at, or leave, somewhere like school.

To stop your child switching location sharing off, go back to Content & Privacy Restrictions and lock Share My Location and Location Services under Privacy.

The “basic apps only” set-up

Plenty of parents want an iPhone that behaves like a simple phone: calls, texts, maps and the camera, and nothing else until they're older. One way to do that with the tools above:

1. Set the Screen Time passcode first (step 3). Without it, none of this sticks.
2. In Always Allowed, add only the apps you're happy for them to use freely — for example Phone, Messages, Maps, Camera and Clock. Keep Phone and Messages in the list so they can always reach you and the emergency services.
3. In App Limits, tap Add Limit, select every category, and set the shortest time it allows. Everything outside the Always Allowed list is then locked almost immediately each day.
4. Block app installs and in-app purchases (step 7), so nothing new appears.
5. Optionally, use Allowed Apps & Features in Content & Privacy Restrictions to hide built-in apps, such as Safari, from the Home Screen altogether.

Test it on your child's phone before you hand it over: try to open a blocked app and check you get the request on your phone. Then loosen things one app at a time as they get older. That's far easier than clawing freedoms back.

Honest limits

• Determined children find gaps. Workarounds do the rounds at school. Check the Screen Time report now and then, rather than assuming the settings are still doing their job.
• Settings don't replace talking. A child who understands why the limits exist is less likely to go looking for a way round them, and more likely to tell you when something goes wrong.
• It all runs through Apple. Screen Time is tied to your Apple Account, so Apple holds the settings and the activity data. That's the trade for having controls this good built in. We'd rather you knew than didn't.

The rules around children and phones are changing too. The government has announced a ban on social media for under-16s, due in spring 2027. Our Online Safety Act explainer covers what it means for families. If you'd rather your child started with a phone that simply doesn't do social media, that's what we're working on with Takeback Family.

Sources, all Apple, checked 11 September 2026: creating a child's account, Screen Time for a child, Downtime and App Limits, Screen Time passcode, Communication Limits, blocking apps, downloads and websites, Ask to Buy, family location sharing and parental controls overview.