If you’re a parent buying your kid a PS5 this holiday, then you may already be thinking about how to set up parental controls so you can ensure they spend a healthy amount of time playing with it.
This of course doesn’t need to be the case with every family, but if you do want to set up parental controls on the PS5, this handy guide can help with that.
The list of features that are included in the parental controls for the PS5 is not extensive. But there are more than a few things in there that you can manage. This also isn’t something that’s front and center in the UI. And it doesn’t really need to be.
But because it’s more or less tucked away inside of the settings menu, some users may not know where to look. And that’s ok.
How to set up parental controls on PS5
Head to the settings menu
As you may have guessed, the settings for parental controls on the PS5 are located in the settings menu.
So locate the cog button in the top right corner of the UI that’s next to your profile avatar, then click on that. This will open up settings and list everything in there that you can adjust.
What you’re looking for this time is the family and parental controls menu. As the name suggests this is where you can manage different things on the console that pertain to what games and apps can be accessed and what age you need to be.
But first, you should set up a passcode so whatever you configure can’t be changed later.
Set up a console restriction passcode
Honestly before you configure anything the first thing you should do is change the passcode for managing all this stuff.
This is so that nothing can be changed by anyone who has access to the console. Whether it be kids or housemates that you live with who you let use the PS5. The default passcode will be four zeros. So obviously that’s not very secure and you should change it to something that only you would know.
The passcode can only four characters long as well, and can only be a sequence of numbers. So it won’t be too overwhelming and should be easy enough for you to remember. As a tip though, make sure it’s something unique that no one would guess.
It’s also a good idea not to use 4-character PIN numbers that you already use for other things. Just in case people who have access to the PS5 also already know these other passcodes.
Manage your family of users
After the passcode is created, you’ll want to set up user profiles for anyone that will be using the console. That is if you want them to have their own profile.
If you live in a home with more than one person, having a unique profile for each one that plans to use the console on their own is a good idea. You’ll have to add family members to the console to do that.
Inside the family and parental controls menu you’ll see a menu for family management. Click on that and then follow the instructions on the screen for adding family members. You will either need to scan a QR code with your phone’s camera, or go to the website provided on-screen to add more people. After that you can begin setting up profiles for your child, or anyone else who you plan to let use the PS5.
Set up console restrictions
Next up, or really at any point if you decide to do this part first, is to set up the restrictions on the console for additional users outside of yourself.
There are a few different things you can access from this particular menu. This includes user creation and guest logins, parental controls for new users (which is what this sections of the guide is focusing on), temporarily disable PS5 console restrictions, and changing your console restrictions passcode.
Click on parental controls for new users and proceed to set things for each section as you see fit. Take a few minutes and go through all of them and make sure they’re where you want them to be.
Primarily, this is where you’ll designate the age range for the games and apps that other users can access. The ages are based on the different ratings for games and apps, and it goes from everyone, to everyone 10+, to teen, to mature 17+.
If your child or the user is between ages 6 and 9, select those ages in the dropdown that appears and it will restrict them to using only apps and games that meet the E rating. Likewise, if your child or the user is anywhere between the ages of 10 and 12, they can access any game or app that meets the E and E10+ ratings.
You probably see where this is going. Select ages 13-16 for access to content that meets the T rating and below, or 17 and above for access to all content. Alternatively, you can also remove the restriction entirely if you don’t want to restrict anyone from anything.
Restrict access to DVDs and other content
In addition to games and apps you can also restrict access to things like DVDs and Blu-ray discs that can be played in the console if you have the model that comes with a disc drive.
You can also select the restrictions for web browsing. Basically you can set up parental controls for most of the accessible stuff on the console. This of course doesn’t include any games that may have online chat. Even if it’s a kids game, if it’s online and there’s an open chat, that’s something you’ll have to manually keep an eye on.
But when it comes to access to apps, games, movies, and the web, you’re covered here. You may also want to see about setting up 2-factor authentication for verifying new purchases from the PlayStation Store, which never hurts. Especially with all the PlayStation Plus discounts that tend to pop up.