Wondering how to set up parental controls on a PS5 and keep the kiddies safe while they enjoy a spot of gaming? This handy post contains all the info you need to get those parental controls in place on PlayStation 5. The process is easy and customisable, based on the logged-in profile, so it’s possible to set different levels of access for different family members and ensure everyone enjoys a safe and happy gaming session.
How To Set Up Parental Controls On The PlayStation 5
Step 1: Profiles
In order to manage the parental controls on your PS5 you will of course need an adult account, hopefully you will already have this set up, otherwise you will need to create an account and connect to the PlayStation Network. Next you need to create an account for your kid, they can skip creating a PlayStation Network account if you don’t want them to play online. Basically you just need to enter a name and select an avatar picture from the ones on your main account.
Step 2: Family And Parental Controls
Switch back to your main account and go to Settings, then Family And Parental Controls. Here you can change the acceptable age ratings on both PS4 & PS5 games as individual categories, don’t worry there is more flexibility to this later on.
You can also restrict or allow access to the web browser, DVD & Blu-Ray player and even to VR headsets.
You will also find inside Family Management, settings for allowing a certain time period and duration for accessing games, these can be set to show a notification when time expires or to even suspend the application. Also in here is a list of restricted games that have been allowed.
Step 3: Online Gaming
Don’t worry if your kid wants to play online, there’s setting to help there as well. While in the Family And Parent Controls settings select your childs account then Parental Controls. Here you can select a Child option that will set certain restrictions, or you can customise. Scroll down past the settings seen previously and Online Experience settings will be available. With these you will be able to restrict voice chat and messages to anyone who is not on their friendslist as well as auto blocking them from viewing or sharing images or messages on the PlayStation Network.
Another important setting allows you to limit the amount spent per month content, making sure that nobody overspends on V-Bucks or Minecoins.
Step 4: Allowing Access To Individual Games
Not all video games are rated equally, you may feel that a 12 rated racer may be more acceptable to play than an action game with the same rating. Luckily on PlayStation 5 this is easy to manage.
When you child selects a game that is rated above their level, they have the option to send a request to the parent account. This can then be accessed as a notification on the parent account on the system or even through the PS App on mobile. The game will not be accessible on the child account until you confirm, but the process can be completed in under a minute so they can try out that new superhero game if your happy for them too while still restricting access to other games.
Long since the days of the early 90s, parents have been concerned about what content their children were being exposed to on their game consoles. Unless your Sega was in the living room how could you know if your kid had entered the Blood Cheat in MK?
Back in the days when parents only had to worry if their kid borrowed a copy of Duke Nukem from a friend or convinced their parents that the 18 rating on Grand Theft Auto for the PS1 was just a recommendation (sorry mum.) Nowadays there is such a smorgasbord of content in gaming that is not meant for younger eyes, but thankfully we now have Parental Controls.
You can easily protect your little ones from inappropriate content on the family PS5 in just a few simple steps. Now you can keep any game you wish installed without the fear of them running over pedestrians or spending all your money on in-game cosmetics.