Exploration starts here

We believe kids can discover new interests, learn from diverse perspectives, and foster a sense of belonging when they explore the world of online video. So we give you choices to guide your kids’ YouTube journey and choose the best YouTube experience for your family.

Know your choices

Choices for every family

Every family’s relationship with media and technology is different, so we offer options for you to decide what’s best for yours. We regularly update our products to meet the diverse needs of families, and do so in consultation with our advisory committee of independent experts.

Discover age-appropriate ways for your kids, tweens, and teens to explore YouTube

Parent supervised experience

A supervised experience on YouTube for pre-teens and older

The YouTube experience — managed by you — for parents who decide their kids are ready to explore the vast universe of videos and music on YouTube. Comes with content settings for pre-teens and older, parental controls, and digital wellbeing protections.

  • create

    Create a supervised Google Account for YouTube

    Manage your child’s experience on the app, website, Smart TVs and gaming consoles

  • choose

    Choose from three content settings

    Generally align with content ratings by age, starting at 9+

  • workswith

    Set parental controls

    Block channels, adjust time limits with Google’s Family Link app, and more

  • before

    Before they explore, help them become safe, prepared users of YouTube

    Explore the parent guide to start the conversation

YouTube (parent supervised experience) contains a vast number of videos and is significantly larger than our separate YouTube Kids app. Our systems work hard to prevent inappropriate content, but are not perfect and will make mistakes. Some videos may be unsuitable for kids. If you prefer a more limited experience for your child, YouTube Kids may be a better option.

Learn More

YouTube features to support teen well-being

If your teen is ready for the full YouTube experience, YouTube also has features available to support teen wellbeing

  • reminder

    Reminders that tell your teens to take a break

    Take-a-break notifications are set to every 60 minutes, ages 13-17 have them “On” by default

  • notifications

    Notifications let teens know it might be time for bed

    Bedtime reminders are set for 10pm, ages 13-17 have them “On” by default

  • autoplay

    The next video doesn’t automatically play for your teens

    The autoplay feature enables another related video to automatically play after a video ends, but this feature is turned off by default for users under 18 years old.

Separate app made just for kids

An app made just for kids

A separate app built from the ground up to be a safer and simpler experience for kids to explore, with tools for parents and caregivers to guide their journey.

  • create

    Create individual profiles as unique as your kids

    With personalized content selections and settings

  • choose

    Choose a content level based on your kid’s age

    Select a preferred experience for ages 4 and under, 5-8, or 9-12

  • explore

    Give them even more to explore

    Find content from YouTube and share it directly with your child in YouTube Kids

  • screen-time

    Set screen time limits, block videos, and more

    Parental controls to manage your family’s experience

  • every-screen

    Fun on every screen

    Enjoy YouTube Kids on mobile, desktop, and Smart TVs

YouTube Kids has a much smaller set of content available than YouTube’s main app and website. We work hard to keep videos on YouTube Kids family-friendly and use a mix of automated filters built by our engineering teams, human review, and feedback from parents to protect our community. But not all videos have been manually reviewed. If you find something inappropriate that we missed, you can flag it for fast review. This makes the app better for everyone.

Learn More

Frequently asked questions

Understanding your choices

  • What’s the difference between a supervised experience on YouTube and regular YouTube?

    Your child’s supervised experience will look much like YouTube’s flagship app and website, but with adjustments to the content they can find and watch, features they can use, default account settings, and ad protections.

    The videos they can watch will depend on a content setting that you select for their supervised account when granting them permission to use YouTube. Automatic reminders will appear for breaks and bedtime, which they can adjust to reinforce healthy screen time habits, and YouTube’s autoplay feature will be off by default as well.

  • What is YouTube Kids? How is it different from a supervised account on YouTube?

    YouTube Kids is our dedicated app built from the ground up with kids in mind, while a supervised account gives you the choice to allow your kids access to a managed version of regular YouTube.

    We launched YouTube Kids in 2015 to give kids a safer, more contained environment, with three content settings (Pre-school, Younger, and Older) and parental controls to help guide their viewing experience. Content in YouTube Kids is a diverse, but smaller selection of content than regular YouTube - selected through a combination of human review, curated playlists from experts, and algorithmic filtering.

    Learn more at youtube.com/kids

Supervised accounts on YouTube

  • How do I get started?

    Supervised accounts on YouTube are available for children under 13 (or applicable age in your country) with a Google Account managed by Family Link. By setting up a supervised account linked to your own, and using your child’s account to sign in to YouTube, you can adjust their experience as described in the first FAQ above.

    Learn more to get started.

  • What are my choices for content settings?

    As a parent, you’ve watched your child grow and have seen their interests change. Wherever these new interests lead them, YouTube’s diverse platform of content creators offer entertainment, ideas, perspectives, and communities for them to explore. You know your child best and that’s why we offer three content setting options for you to choose:

    • Explore: Generally aligns with content ratings for viewers ages 9+. This will feature a range of vlogs, tutorials, gaming videos, music videos, news, educational content, DIY, arts and crafts, dance, and more. No live streams, except for Premieres.
    • Explore more: Generally aligns with content ratings for viewers ages 13+. This setting will include a larger set of videos – including live streams – in the same categories as Explore.
    • Most of YouTube: Includes almost everything on YouTube, excluding content marked 18+ by channels, our systems, or our reviewers.

    These content settings contain a vast number of videos and are significantly larger than our separate YouTube Kids app. Our systems work hard to prevent inappropriate content, but are not perfect and will make mistakes. Some videos may be unsuitable for kids. If you prefer a more limited experience for your child, YouTube Kids may be a better option.

    Learn more about the content policies for each of these content settings.

  • How does YouTube protect my child from inappropriate videos?

    People around the world use YouTube to express their ideas and opinions freely, and we believe that a broad range of perspectives ultimately makes us a stronger and more informed society, even if we disagree with some of those views. Our Community Guidelines set out what’s allowed and not allowed on YouTube, and also apply in a supervised experience.

    By setting up a supervised account for your child, and choosing a content setting for them, this will provide additional limits on the content they can find or get recommended.

    We care deeply about our users and work hard to exclude unsuitable videos, but no automated system of filters is perfect. You can change app permissions and content settings for your child at any time. If you find something you believe violates our Community Guidelines, please report it for review. This makes YouTube better for everyone.

  • What parental controls are available?

    Your child’s supervised account is linked to your own account, which gives you the ability to adjust their account settings. This includes changing their content setting, pausing or clearing their history, blocking channels, and if needed, removing their access to YouTube. Learn more here.

  • Can I grant my child’s supervised account access to YouTube Music or YouTube TV?

    If you decide your child is ready to explore YouTube with a supervised account, the content setting you choose for them will also apply to official albums, singles, videos, remixes, live performances and more when they sign in to YouTube Music on Android, iOS and desktop.

    Supervised accounts are not supported on YouTube TV.

  • How does YouTube protect my child’s privacy?

    YouTube is a part of Google and adheres to Google’s privacy policies and principles. We know it’s important for you to understand what personal information we collect in association with your child’s Google Account, why we collect it, and how you can update, manage, export, and delete that information. The Google Privacy Policy and our Privacy Notice for Google Accounts for children under 13 (or applicable age in your country) explain our privacy practices for your child’s account.

    Your child can manage and learn more about their privacy settings and controls under "Your Data in YouTube" in their account. This page includes a summary of their content and activity data, settings to manage this data, and information on how their data is used to improve their YouTube experience, like reminding them what they’ve watched, and giving them more relevant recommendations and search results. As the parent manager of your child’s Google Account, you can pause or clear their search and watch history from Family Link, or from your parent settings page in YouTube.

  • What about ads? Will my child see them?

    Yes. Limited paid advertisements make it possible for YouTube to provide an experience free of charge for families everywhere, and help support content creators to bring their creative ideas to life. To better protect children, ads in certain categories are prohibited and personalized ads are disabled. If you have a YouTube Premium family plan your child is eligible for ad-free viewing and other shared benefits of membership.