🥇 Configure Parental Control MacOS Step by Step Guide ▷ 2020

Activating parental lock on a Mac is a very wise decision that you can make as a parent. You know what your child is exposed to dangerous intentions of third parties who falsify their identity or they pretend to be harmless apps to access data that can be harmful to the child.

Fortunately, you can prevent this type of cyberbullying through parental control in the MacOS OS. For this, You will have to know the steps you must take to activate this type of limits in the different factors that you have on your computer.

The secrets you need to know so that your child is protected when browsing the web, You can find them in this post, turning your Mac into a child’s bunker.

What is a parental control and what are the main advantages of applying it on MacOS?

With a parental control You can set limits on the use of applications that your child downloads when browsing the Internet. You can do this according to technological tools that will allow, not only to block those apps that are contrary to the education you want for your child, but you can also determine usage time that your child passes in front of the computer.

In addition, when you use this type of application to control the activity of the smallest of the house, you can set limits so that they cannot be buy online and do not allow to modify settings that show the location of the equipment or access the camera and microphone. With all this you will achieve that your child does not see explicit content nor allow the voice assistant, Siri, can execute actions that are contrary to the established limits.

Finally, there would be the most important issue, which is the physical and psychological safety of your child. You must bear in mind that surfing the Internet without adult supervision is very dangerous, since there are activities such as grooming, bullying or any other cyber attack that generates irreparable consequences for children. When you carry out a parental control you will prevent all these risks from entering your child’s life.

Steps to activate parental lock on MacOS and configure it correctly

The first thing you should do is create an administrator account and another for your child. For this you must follow the following guide:

Select the menu represented by the Apple apple.
Choose “System preferences”.
Then click on “Users and groups”.
Click on the closed padlock.
Enter an administrator name.
Click on “Add”, represented by the sign “+”.
Choose “New account”.
Choose “Administrator”.
Enter the full name for the new user. Wait a second and you will have the username.
Write a password so you can access it every time you need it.
Enter the same password again.
Click on “Create user”.
Choose “Allow user to manage this computer.”
Choose the combinations you want in the preferences panel.

To create your child’s profile, you will:

Go to the Apple icon.
Tap on “System preferences”.
Choose “Users and groups”.
Press on the closed padlock.
Enter the administrator’s name and password.
Click on “Add”.
Tap on “New account”.
Choose “Standard”.
Enter the full name of the new user to automatically have a new account.
Enter the password for this user twice.
Tap on “Create user”.

Using the administrator account, you will have to follow the following steps to activate the parental lock on your Mac computer:

Apps

Follow these steps:

Choose the Apple icon.
Look for the option “System preferences”.
Tap on “Parental Controls”.
Click on the Padlock.
Select your child’s Account on the left.
Click on the tab “Apps”.

Choose all the changes you want to make to control the camera, access multiplayer games, send emails, and above all, cancel specific applications.

Internet

Make the following guide:

Tap on Apple.
Choose “System preferences”.
Choose “Parental Controls”.
Look for the Closed Padlock located in the lower left corner.
On the left, go to the Account you want and select it.
Go to the tab “Internet”.
Modify the permissions you need.

In this way you can imitate access to different websites regardless of the browser and use.

Stores

So that you can control the use of iTunes, you must limit access to movies and music with explicit content, follow this step by step:

Select the Apple logo.
Look for the option “System preferences”.
click “Parental Controls”.
Choose the Padlock.
Click on the Account you have created for your child.
Select the tab “Stores”.
Make the changes you think necessary.

Weather

One of the most important benefits you can find when you use a parental control tool is that you can limit the time your child will spend in front of the screen. You must follow these instructions to make the changes successfully:

Tap on Apple.
Click on “System preferences”.
Squeeze “Parental Controls”.
Choose the closed padlock to unlock access and be able to make changes.
Select in the left panel the account you want to perform parental control.
Go to the tab “Weather”.

The limit per week or weekend. As well also you will be able to determine the bedtime.

Privacy

When your child downloads applications that are within parental control, they will ask for certain permissions that your child must grant them.

If you want to maintain control over privacy so that apps cannot access the calendar, contacts, reminders, Twitter, Facebook, diagnostics and any other element that is private, you will have to follow this step by step:

Click on the Apple menu.
When you have the drop down menu choose “System preferences”.
Then look for the option “Parental Controls”.
At the bottom left of the screen you will find a Padlock. Click on it to open it
Your child’s account can be found on the left of the panel. Click on it.
Choose the tab “Privacy”.
Modify the permission to access different private elements that the applications will have.

Others

This section will allow you to deactivate Siri and voice dictation. You will also have the ability to restrict printer editing, scanner, and CD and DVD writing lock in the Finder. If you prefer, you can also limit the explicit language in the dictionary and prevent modifying the dock and using a simple Finder.

To benefit from these parental controls, you must follow the following guide:

Go to Apple.
Choose from the menu “System preferences”.
Tap on “Parental Controls”.
Unlock the padlock.
Find your child’s Account.
Go to the tab “Others”.
Select the actions you want to restrict.

4 Tips to Make the Internet Safer for Your Young Children

In addition to the parental controls that we have mentioned in the previous paragraphs, you should also take into account other aspects that will help you to make the Internet safer for your young children.

We will show you Here are some tips you should follow to help your children be protected when they browse the web:

Block all adult portals

This point is fundamental. Since you will not only prevent your child from finding inappropriate content for their age, but you will also block links that can lead to download viruses, spyware and any other kind of malicious programs at their fingertips.

Install ad blocker

It is important that you install an adblock on your Mac. This is because not all the advertisements that your child can find on the pages are from Google (which is not recommended from a psychological point of view either).

You should not forget that these advertising guidelines will show you a purchasing trend for articles of daily use, within morality and good customs. But also there are other types of advertisements (which pay more money to website owners) and which are not regulated by Google. These always have explicit content, causing you to have the same problems as the previous point.

Block apps not suitable for their age

It is true that all the applications that you will find in the App Store and in official stores have a classification approved by Apple, according to the development and parameters chosen by this company.

But this is not enough, since you can find apps intended for all audiences and that are not recommended for children under 12 years of age. This is the case of Call of duty, which is a war video game with futuristic overtones, or Free fire which also has targets for destruction with weapons of war.

Therefore, it will be necessary to pay close attention to the app downloads that your child makes that are within the filter that you have imposed. Its contents may not be suitable for young children.

Educate them about the risks of the web

This is without a doubt the best thing you can do. You will have to form a responsible conscience in your child, so that in this way you are sure that the technological parental controls did not fail.

It is important that they develop the idea that the Internet is dangerous, due to malicious people who only seek personal satisfaction, but at the same time technology is also a very useful tool for their future.

If you have any questions, leave them in the comments, we will answer you as soon as possible, and it will also be of great help to more members of the community. Thank you! 😉