How to Set Up Parental Controls on Snapchat

Snapchat is a popular social media platform, especially among younger audiences, as it allows them to share their best moments instantly. But, as a parent, it’s not unwise to track how much time your child spends on the app. Thankfully, Snapchat now lets you set up Parental Controls to better manage the app’s use.

In this post, we will share the complete steps for setting up Parental Controls on Snapchat on Android and iPhone. We will be covering all the safety features available under Parental Controls and how to enable them on your kid’s profile.

Enable Parental Controls on Snapchat

Snapchat includes the option of the Family Center for setting up Parental Controls. However, there are some prerequisites for using Family Center on Snapchat.

• You must be bi-directional friends with your kids on Snapchat to send them invites to the Family Center.
• Parents, guardians, or trusted relatives aged 25 or above can invite their young family members to the Family Center.
• Your kid should be between 13 and 18 to join Family Center. Users under 13 years of age are not allowed to create a Snapchat account.

Once all the above-mentioned conditions are met, here’s how you can enable Snapchat Parental Controls. The steps apply to both iPhone and Android users.

Step 1: Open Snapchat on your iPhone or Android.

Step 2: Tap your profile icon at the top-left corner and press the Settings cog in the top-right corner.

Step 3: Scroll down and tap on Family Center. Then tap on Continue to get started.

Step 4: To send an invitation to your kid(s), simply tap on their profile name and select the Send Invitation option.

Accept Family Center Invite on Snapchat

These steps should be followed on your kid’s phone running the Snapchat account to accept your Family Center invite.

Step 1: Open Snapchat on your kid’s phone and tap on Chat.

Step 2: Select your message and tap on View Invitation in the chat window.

Step 3: Scroll down and tap on Accept.

Once accepted, you will receive a notification for the same on your Snapchat account.

Manage Parental Controls on Snapchat

After adding your kid(s) account to the Family Center, you can now take control of restricting sensitive content. This will limit your kid’s ability to come across sensitive content on Snapchat Stories and Spotlight. However, you cannot limit the content that your kid sees in Chat, Snaps, or Search. Here’s how to manage parental controls in the Family Center.

Step 1: Open Snapchat and tap on your profile icon at the top-left corner.

Step 2: Tap the Settings icon at the top-right corner and select Family Center from the list of options.

Step 3: Tap the toggle to enable ‘Restrict Sensitive Content’ for your kid’s account.

The name of your kids’ account will be visible along with the option to check their friend list.

Once again, remember that Snapchat doesn’t allow parents to check chat messages through the Family Center utility. But you can get insights into the Recent Conversations on your kid’s account.

You also have the option to add more kid’s profiles in the Family Center. Just tap the Add a Teen icon and re-do the steps outlined above.

Remove Teen Profile From Family Center on Snapchat

You can choose to remove your kid’s profile from the Family Center using your Snapchat account. Here’s how.

Step 1: Open Snapchat on your kid’s phone and go to Settings.

Step 2: Tap on Family Center from the list of options.

Step 3: Tap the three dots in the top-right corner and select ‘Leave Family Center’ at the bottom.

Step 4: Tap on Yes to confirm.

Disable Family Center on Snapchat

As a parent, you can also choose to opt out of Family Center on your Snapchat account. Doing this will remove all the Teen Accounts added to your profile.

Step 1: Open Snapchat on your phone and go to your profile.

Step 2: Tap the Settings icon and select Family Center from the list of options.

Step 3: Tap the three dots in the top-right corner and select Leave Family Center.

Step 4: Tap on Yes to confirm.

Protect Your Kids Online

The internet’s duality of being helpful and harmful to your kids is a sad truth. It is definitely assuring when apps like Snapchat provide Parental Controls to prevent unwanted content from reaching your kids. You can also choose to block or remove someone from your child’s Snapchat account. Refer to our post to learn the differences between blocking and removing someone on Snapchat. As always, let us know if this guide was helpful in the comments below.