YouTube TV for Families: How to Set Up Parental Controls

YouTube TV has become a popular choice for families looking for an affordable streaming service with a wide channel lineup. Since kids often end up with the remote, it’s worth knowing exactly what parental controls YouTube TV offers and how to set them up.

How to Set Up Restricted Mode on YouTube TV

1. Log in to your YouTube TV account and select your profile.
2. Click the three-dot menu icon and select Settings.
3. Scroll to Live guide and channel management and select Restricted mode.
4. Toggle on Activate restricted mode and enter your password to confirm.

Restricted mode filters out much of the mature content on YouTube TV, but it isn’t foolproof — a child with access to the account password can turn it back off. It works best combined with the additional controls below.

Additional Parental Controls

• Channel blocking — under Settings > Live guide and channel management > Blocked channels, you can block specific channels entirely.
• Content ratings — filter out content above a chosen rating (like TV-14 or PG-13) from the same settings menu.
• Time limits — under Settings > Time watched, you can cap how much TV a profile can watch per day.

Pros and Cons for Families

Pros: plans start around $82.99/month for over 100 channels including ABC, CBS, and NBC, and the parental controls above cover most family needs.

Cons: not every device is supported, customization options are more limited than cable, and DVR storage is capped (unlimited on most current plans, though older plans were capped at 500 hours — check your specific plan).

For a broader look at how YouTube TV stacks up against cable, see our YouTube TV vs. Cable TV comparison.

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