Windows 10 is a great platform for parental control because it comes built in. Before you can start using any features to control your child’s access to the internet, you first have to create a new family member account. ..
In this article, I’ll walk you through the steps for creating a new Microsoft family member account. You’ll need to make sure you already have a Microsoft account for yourself and that you are logged into Windows using that Microsoft account. Unfortunately, if you are using a local account to sign into Windows, you won’t be able to use any of the family protection features.
Create Microsoft Family Member Account
To add a family member to your account on the Microsoft website, follow these steps:
- Log in to your account and click on the Settings dialog.
- In the Settings dialog, select the Family tab.
- In the Family section, select either via Windows or via the Microsoft website.
- Click on Add Family Member to add your new family member to your account.
After logging into your Microsoft account, go to the Family page and sign in. If you don’t have anyone added yet, you’ll see a message about adding a family member.
If you are adding a child to your account, you will be asked to choose whether you are adding a child or an adult.
If you haven’t setup a child account yet, please click on the Create one for them link. You’ll be asked to enter the email and password for the child account.
If you don’t have an email address yet, you can click on the Get a new email address link at the bottom of this page to automatically create one. This will create a new Microsoft account with the email address @outlook.com. If you want to create an account using a different email address, like @gmail.com, you should first go ahead and create that account and then follow the procedure again.
Once you enter an email address and a password, you’ll be asked to enter the child’s first and last name and then their birthday.
On the next screen, you have to agree to some terms since you will be giving access to a minor. You also have the option to allow your child to use third-party apps or not. Click Yes to continue.
To prove that you are an adult creating the child account, you must put in your credit card information so that it can charge you $.50. Click Confirm to accept the charge.
Once you have added a child to your Microsoft account, they will be able to access their account and all of their information. You can either open the invitation or have them open it and click on the Accept Invitation button.
A new family member has been added to your Microsoft account. It will also say Pending member until the invitation is accepted.
Windows 10 will notify you that your child has been added as a family member. You’ll just have to make sure your child logs into Windows using their new account in order for you to use the parental control settings. In my next post, I’ll go through how to setup the different controls and how to monitor activity.
