How to set up a Windows Family Safety account for a child

To start with, let’s make sure you’re logged into your Microsoft administrator account. Type “Your info” into the Windows search bar, click the “Your account info” result that shows up at the top.

To check, and check that you’re signed in on the account you expect to be. Make sure it shows an email address – this tells you that you’re using an online Microsoft account to, and that it lists you as “Administrator”.

Go to https://family.microsoft.com/ and sign in using your Microsoft account – the one that your Windows license and is associated with, and which you use when signing in to Windows. If you have no associated family members, you’ll be prompted to create one immediately via a pop-up, but we’re going to take the conventional route – either close the pop-up or skip to step 3 to follow along with the tutorial.

Click “Add a family member”, next to your own profile.

If they have a phone number or email address, enter it here. If not, you’ll be invited to create a Microsoft Outlook email account for them. Any email address or phone number can be used, however. If your kids already have Microsoft accounts, for example for Minecraft or Xbox, then you should use the address associated with these.

Click Next.

Set the user up a member or an organiser. If they’re a co-parent, guardian or other person you wish to give administrative powers to, they should be an organiser. Otherwise, select member here. I’m going to create a member account for child in the following steps.

The Next button will turn green once you’ve chosen a role. Click it.

Enter the captcha

And then click the Invite button.

Your family member will receive an email at the account you added, inviting them to join Microsoft Family. They should click the Join now link.

The “Join now” link in the email will take them to the Microsoft family group account creation website. They should click Join now here, too.

If there’s a Microsoft account already associated with the email address you invited, they’ll be prompted to sign in. Click Next and enter the password when prompted. If they don’t already have a Microsoft account, they’ll be prompted to set one up – click “Create one!” and follow the on-screen instructions to do so – their account details should be saved in a password manager.

If they don’t have a Microsoft account they – or you – will have to create one. Click “Create one!”

Check that you have the address right and click Next

Create a strong and memorable password – this should ideally be stored in a password manager but you may need to write it down while you’re working through account creation.

Once you’re entered the password you want, click Next to confirm it.

Enter your child’s first and last name here. You can use a pseudonym for extra privacy.

Once you’re happy with that, click Next.

You’ll want to accurately enter your child’s date of birth here, as it affects both the content filtering options for their account and can appear as a security question if access to the account is lost.

Once you’ve filled in their birthdate, click next.

A four-digit code will be sent to the email address associated with the account you’re creating. Copy this number.

And paste or type it into the next sign-up step in your browser. Untick the “I would like information, tips and offers about Microsoft products and services” box while you’re here.

Tap the next button to verify.

Your member will be informed that they should solve a puzzle to prove they’re not a robot. Click Next here.

This kid-friendly captcha alternative will ask them to identify an animal, fruit or similar. If your child if over 13, they should be signed in after completing this step. Go to step 36.

If your child is under 13, they’ll be asked to have you provide consent for their account. Click “I’m a parent or guardian”.

Once you’ve made a choice, you’ll be able to click Continue. Do do.

Enter your own Microsoft account email address

Once you’ve done that, you’ll be able to click Next. Do so.

They’ll be asked if they want to stay signed in. If you’re doing this set up via your account, click No.

Read the consent form. It’s short, informative and details exactly what information Microsoft will have and hold about your child.

Scroll to the second page, read it and, if you agree, type your name into the signature field.

Click the Yes, I agree button to give your consent to Microsoft holding data about your child.

You’ll next be asked if you want to allow your child to be able to sign into non-Microsoft apps with their account. While this may allow some third parties to collect data as described in the box, it provides a better users experience. Tick the box.

The Continue button will now be clickable. Click it.

Your under-thirteen now has a Microsoft account and is part of your Family Safety group. Click Sign out to sign out of your own account and go to to Step 38.

Finally, Family Safety explains some of the things they’ll be able to do with their account, such as requesting that an adult buy them Microsoft Store software, opt to share their activity or location with family members, and have content filters and screen time limits set for them. They should click Join now, but there’s still time to switch to a different account if you need to.

Your new user will be logged into their member account. Any Microsoft devices your member’s account is already logged into will appear here. If there are none, the next step is to connect a device. We’re going to use a Windows PC, but Windows PCs, Xbox consoles, and Android and iOS drives can all be connected to Microsoft Family Safety.

In Windows, use the taskbar search box to search for “add user”, then click on “Add, edit, or remove other users” in the results.

Your new family member’s account name or email address should appear in your user list with text reading “can’t sign in” next to it.

Click on their account name.

Now click the Allow button that appears below their account name

Click allow again when asked to confirm that they should be allowed to sign in.

Press Ctrl-Alt-Delete and click “Sign out”.

You’ll find yourself at the Windows sign-in screen.

Click once, anywhere on the screen and have your new user select their account name from the list at the bottom left. They should now click “Sign in”.

A Microsoft account login box will appear, requesting them to enter their password. Do that, then click Sign in.

They’ll be prompted to create a Personal Indentifiction Numer for login – this is a good idea, particularly if their strong master password is long or difficult to type. With that done, they’ll be logged into their new Windows account. This will take a few minutes as the new account is set up by Windows

Backups are generally desirable and an automatic backup of key folders, such as Documents, can help avoid your kids losing any important files in case of hard disk failures. Select

Read through the explanation and click Next.

You’re about to be given lots of choices to make about Windows’ initial settings. It’s tedious, so you should do this by yourself for smaller children. For anyone below the age of majority, always consider configuring Windows’ account settings for maximum privacy. Select No when asked to “Let Microsoft and apps use your location”.

Click Accept to move on to the next question.

Click no to prevent Microsoft from sending back data about how the user types or uses a stylus when writing.

Click Accept.

You don’t want Microsoft to record or base advertising on a child’s internet and computer use, so select No here.

Click Accept to go to the next question.

More ad tracking here. Say no.

Click Accept to move on again.

Having made it through that, click the Start menu when Windows’ main interface loads.

Click the user profile icon – the top icon on the narrow the left-hand column.

Click your own username to return to the login screen.

Click your user name at bottom left to log back into your own account. In this example, my admin account requires a PIN to log in.

I’m selecting Microsoft Edge here.

Go to to https://account.microsoft.com/family/. You should see your PC listed as connected to your new member’s. Click on your child’s member icon to configure their screen time, content filtering and access settings. You’ll have to do this for younger children, but most kids – and certainly tweens and younger teens – should be involved in configuration by mutual consent.