Parental controls on Netflix Troubleshooting. Netflix have launched an update to their parental controls. Netflix has updated these settings to help families around the world get the most from their viewing experience, as well as allowing them to make decisions about what content is right for their family. This blog looks at these new controls, and how parents and carers can use them with their family.
With over 5,052 TV shows, documentaries, and movies currently on Netflix in the UK, there is a lot of great content that young people can use to learn from, engage with or use just to relax with. The sheer number of titles on Netflix does however mean that there is some content that is not appropriate for all users to watch, with some films and TV shows age-rated as 15 or 18.
What are parental controls?
Parental controls are designed to help protect children from inappropriate content they may come across online. These controls can be used to restrict access to age-inappropriate content, to set usage times, and to monitor activity. On Netflix specifically, parental controls are available to restrict what young people can watch, as well as to see what young people have been watching.
It’s worth being aware that no parental controls or filtering options are 100% effective. As children grow up, they can become quite tech-savvy and this could mean that they learn how to disable or bypass parental controls.
With parental controls, it’s important to remember to keep passwords private from your children – sharing it may mean they can turn off or modify the parental settings which you have put in place.
Before you implement or change your parental control settings have a conversation with your children, talk about why you are doing this and what it means for their internet use. Use this as an opportunity to talk to them about the way they spend their time online and the things they may see online.
What the new updates include
PIN-protected profiles
When you log into your Netflix account on a computer, tablet, or TV you come to a screen that asks you to select your profile. Each profile has its own name, profile picture, and content that is age-appropriate to the viewer.
In the latest update, you will now need to enter a four-number pin code to access each profile. This can help ensure that only the person who the profile is set up for can view the content on it, stopping younger children or teenagers from going on their parent’s accounts to view films or tv shows intended for older audiences.
Each profile will have a different pin, and the parent or carer who has created these settings can lock or unlock the profiles on your account. To do this:
- Go to Netflix.com/account and log in to your Netflix account.
- Scroll down to ‘Profile & Parental Controls’ and click on the arrow next to the name of the profile you want to lock.
- Change the Profile Lock setting.
- Enter your Netflix account password on the screen.
- Tick the box that says ‘Require a PIN’ to access the selected profile. (if you need to remove the PIN requirement, untick the box).
- Enter four numbers into the PIN field. This will be your Profile Lock PIN.
Stop children bypassing these settings by adding a new profile to your account without entering a PIN. Select Require PIN to add new profiles. - Select Submit.
Apply new filters or Restrict specific title(s)
There is a wide range of shows and movies on Netflix, not all of which is suitable for all ages of viewers. Netflix has announced new ways you can control the types of shows that your children watch, and ways in which you can stop them from watching specific shows you don’t think are appropriate. You can search and select specific titles that you don’t want available to your child.
When setting up the age restrictions you can choose based on the age that is most applicable for your children. The options are U, PG, 12, 15, and 18. Remember that this is the oldest age rating that they will be allowed to watch, so for example, picking 12 will allow your child to watch shows and films rated 12 and below.
To do this:
- Go to Netflix.com/account.
- Scroll to ‘Profile & Parental Controls ’and click on the profile you want to manage.
- Click ‘Change’ next to the Viewing Restrictions setting.
- Enter your Netflix password.
- Set the maturity rating for the programs and films you want to allow in that profile.
You have the options of U, PG, 12, 15, and 18. - Under Title Restrictions, type the name of the title and click the title when it appears. You will see a list of restricted titles listed in red.
- Select Submit.
OUR ADVICE: There might be a specific show that you really might not want your child to see because it’s around an issue or topic that you feel is upsetting even if the age rating says it is ok. Have a conversation with them and explain why and come to a shared understanding. You can always review it a later date.
Disable auto-play
Netflix has a setting called ‘autoplay’ where once you have finished an episode of a show the next one plays automatically after a 10 second countdown. This allows users to easily watch more episodes of the show and can lead to many people spending more time watching than they initially intended.
You can now turn this feature off :
- Go to Netflix.com/account.
- Scroll to Profile & Parental Controls settings.
- Click on the profile for which you want to turn off autoplay for.
- Click Playback Settings.
- Tick or untick the option to autoplay the next episode in a series on all devices.
- Select Save.
If you wish to turn autoplay back on, simply enable this setting at any time for the desired profile by revisiting the parental controls as above.
Looking at viewing history
By looking at your child’s viewing history you can see what has been viewed on each of the profiles and on which date. This can help you to monitor what shows your child is enjoying, as well as seeing how many shows or movies they are watching each day. This can be a great way of starting a discussion about the types of things your children like to watch. To do this:
- Go to Netflix.com/account.
- Scroll to Profile & Parental Controls settings.
- Click on the profile you want to check the history of.
- Click ‘Viewing activity.
The viewing activity will show you all of the titles, and when they were streamed for that profile. Use the Show More button to load additional titles if you are seeing a limited list.
Why can’t I use the Netflix Kids experience?
If you can’t select Kids Profile in Viewing Restrictions, then the profile has been set to allow shows with a higher maturity rating level than the Netflix Kids experience. To keep the Netflix Kids experience for that profile, select a lower kids maturity level.
If you have selected a maturity level above the specified kids level for your region, the profile will no longer show the Netflix Kids experience.
I can’t change the maturity rating limits in the Netflix Kids experience
If you can’t change the maturity rating level in a profile with the Netflix Kids experience, the profile was probably automatically created when you started your Netflix account. For these profiles, you won’t be able to change the maturity rating level above the allowed level for Netflix Kids. If you try to increase above that allowed level, you will get this error message:
Since this is a default Netflix Kids profile, content above a certain maturity level is restricted.
If you want to customize a profile with a new maturity rating level, delete the Netflix Kids profile with the issue and create a new profile.
I’m not being prompted to enter a Profile Lock PIN
Some devices cannot be updated to allow Profile Lock PINs.
On these devices:
- You can enter any profile, but will still need to enter the Profile Lock PIN to watch shows within a locked profile.
- You can’t add new profiles if a PIN is required to add profiles to the account.
