Exploration starts here

We believe that children can discover new interests, learn from diverse perspectives and foster a sense of belonging when they explore the world of online video. So we give you choices to guide your children's YouTube journey and choose the best YouTube experience for your family.

Know your choices

Choices for every family

Every family's relationship with media and technology is different, so we offer options for you to decide what's best for yours. We regularly update our products to meet the diverse needs of families, and do so in consultation with our advisory committee of independent experts.

Discover age-appropriate ways for your children, pre-teens and teens to explore YouTube

Parent-supervised experience

A supervised experience on YouTube for pre-teens*

The YouTube experience – managed by you – for parents who decide that their children are ready to explore the vast universe of videos and music on YouTube. Comes with content settings for pre-teens, parental controls and digital wellbeing protections.

  • create

    Create a supervised Google Account* for YouTube

    Manage your child's experience on the app, website, smart TVs and gaming consoles

  • choose

    Choose from three content settings

    Generally align with content ratings by age, starting at 9+

  • workswith

    Set parental controls

    Block channels, adjust time limits with Google’s Family Link* app, and more

  • before

    Before they explore, help them become safe, prepared users of YouTube

    Explore the parent guide to start the conversation

YouTube (parent-supervised experience)* contains a vast number of videos and is significantly larger than our separate YouTube Kids* app. Our systems work hard to prevent inappropriate content, but they are not perfect and will make mistakes. Some videos may be unsuitable for children. If you prefer a more limited experience for your child, YouTube Kids* may be a better option.

Learn more

A supervised experience on YouTube for teens*

As your pre-teens grow, their interests can too. YouTube's new supervision option helps you have open conversations with your teens as they begin to create and share on YouTube for the first time.

  • channel

    Limitations on the repeated viewing of certain content types

    For those 17 years old and younger, YouTube automatically limits the recommendation of selected types of content that can be problematic if viewed in repetition – such as displaying social aggression and intimidation.

To help parents start the conversation, tips and resources are available to help you guide your teens' content creation journey.

Learn how to get started

YouTube features to support teen wellbeing

If your teen is ready for the full YouTube experience, YouTube also has features available to support teen wellbeing

  • reminder

    Reminders that tell your teens to take a break

    Take-a-break notifications are set to every 60 minutes, ages 13-17 have them “On” by default

  • notifications

    Notifications let teens know it might be time for bed

    Bedtime reminders are set for 10pm, ages 13-17 have them “On” by default

  • autoplay

    The next video doesn’t automatically play for your teens

    The autoplay feature enables another related video to automatically play after a video ends, but this feature is turned off by default for users under 18 years old.

  • limitations

    Limitations on the repeated viewing of certain content types

    For those 17 years old and younger, YouTube automatically limits the recommendation of selected types of content that can be problematic if viewed in repetition – such as displaying social aggression and intimidation.

Separate app made just for children

An app made just for children*

A separate app built from the ground up to be a safer and simpler experience for children to explore, with tools for parents and caregivers to guide their journeys.

  • create

    Create individual profiles as unique as your children

    With personalised content selections and settings

  • choose

    Choose a content level based on your child's age

    Select a preferred experience for ages 4 and under, 5-8, or 9-12

  • approve

    Or approve what your children can watch

    Hand-pick and approve videos, channels or collections

  • screen-time

    Set screen time limits, block videos and more

    Parental controls to manage your family's experience

  • every-screen

    Fun on every screen

    Enjoy YouTube Kids* on mobile, desktop and smart TVs

YouTube Kids* has a much smaller set of content available than YouTube's main app and website. We work hard to keep videos on YouTube Kids* family-friendly, and we use a mix of automated filters built by our engineering teams, human review and feedback from parents to protect our community. But not all videos have been manually reviewed. If you find something inappropriate that we've missed, you can flag it for fast review. This makes the app better for everyone.

Learn more

Frequently asked questions

Understanding your choices

Your child's supervised experience will look much like YouTube's flagship app and website, but with adjustments to the content that they can find and watch, features that they can use, default account settings and ad protections.

The videos that they can watch will depend on a content setting that you select for their supervised account when granting them permission to use YouTube. Automatic reminders will appear for breaks and bedtime, which they can adjust to reinforce healthy screen time habits, and YouTube's auto-play feature will be off by default as well.

You can decide which YouTube experience is best for your family. Use the questions below to learn the differences between a supervised account on YouTube and the YouTube Kids app.

What is it?

  • YouTube Kids: A separate app that's a safer and simpler experience for children. Comes with tools for parents and caregivers to guide their children's viewing journey. Learn more at youtube.com/kids.

  • Supervised experiences for pre-teens: A parent-managed version of regular YouTube with limited features and digital well-being protections. Comes with content settings for pre-teens. Learn more about pre-teen supervised experiences.

  • Supervised experiences for teens: A voluntary supervised experience of regular YouTube that parents or teens can set up. Parents get insights into their teen's channel activity. Learn more about teen supervised experiences.

Who is it for?

  • YouTube Kids: Children whose parents want to handpick content for them to watch. Children whose parents want to choose content for them to watch based on three age-based content settings: Preschool (ages 4 and under), Younger (ages 5–8) and Older (ages 9–12).

  • Supervised experiences for pre-teens: Children under 13 (or the relevant age in their country or region whose parents decide they're ready to explore YouTube with parent-selected content settings applied.

  • Supervised experiences for teens: Teens over 13 (or the relevant age in their country or region who are using YouTube but still want some supervision.

How much content is available for my child?

  • YouTube Kids: Includes a smaller selection of videos than a supervised account on YouTube. The amount of available content changes according to the content setting that you choose (in order): Pre-school (ages 4 and under), Younger (ages 5–8) and Older (ages 9–12).

  • Supervised experiences for pre-teens: Includes more videos and music than our separate YouTube Kids app. The amount of available content changes according to the content setting that you choose: Explore, Explore more and Most of YouTube. Children with the Explore more or Most of YouTube content setting can read video comments.

  • Supervised experiences for teens: All of YouTube, except age-restricted content.

Supervised accounts on YouTube for pre-teens*

Supervised accounts* on YouTube are available for children under 13 (or the applicable age in your country) with a Google Account managed by Family Link*. By setting up a supervised account linked to your own, and using your child’s account to sign in to YouTube, you can adjust their experience as described in the first FAQ above.

Learn more to get started.

As a parent, you've watched your child grow and have seen their interests change. Wherever these new interests lead them, YouTube's diverse platform of content creators offer entertainment, ideas, perspectives and communities for them to explore. You know your child best, and that's why we offer three content setting options for you to choose from:

  • Explore: Generally aligns with content ratings for viewers aged 9+. This will feature a range of vlogs, tutorials, gaming videos, music videos, news, educational content, DIY, arts and crafts, dance and more. No live streams, except for Premieres.
  • Explore more: Generally aligns with content ratings for viewers aged 13+. This setting will include a larger set of videos – including live streams – in the same categories as Explore.
  • Most of YouTube: Includes almost everything on YouTube, excluding content marked 18+ by channels, our systems or our reviewers.

These content settings contain a vast number of videos and are significantly larger than our separate YouTube Kids app. Our systems work hard to prevent inappropriate content, but they are not perfect and will make mistakes. Some videos may be unsuitable for children. If you prefer a more limited experience for your child, YouTube Kids may be a better option.

There are three content settings that you can choose from. Learn more about your options and which one might be right for your pre-teen.

People around the world use YouTube to express their ideas and opinions freely, and we believe that a broad range of perspectives ultimately makes us a stronger and more informed society, even if we disagree with some of those views. Our Community Guidelines set out what's allowed and not allowed on YouTube, and also apply in a supervised experience.

By setting up a supervised account* for your child and choosing a content setting for them, this will provide additional limits on the content that they can find or be recommended.

We care deeply about our users and work hard to exclude unsuitable videos, but no automated system of filters is perfect. You can change app permissions and content settings for your child at any time. If you find something you believe violates our Community Guidelines, please report it for review. This makes YouTube better for everyone.

YouTube is a part of Google and adheres to Google's privacy policies and principles. We know that it's important for you to understand what personal info we collect in association with your child's Google Account. We also know that you need to know why we collect it, and how you can control and delete that info. The Google Privacy Policy and our Privacy Notice for Google Accounts for children under 13 (or the relevant age in their country/region) explain our privacy practices.

Your child can manage and learn more about their YouTube privacy settings and controls under '[Your data in YouTube]'(https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9315727){:target="_blank"} in their account. This page includes a summary of their video and activity data and settings to manage this data. The page also details info on how their data is used to improve their YouTube experience, like reminding them what they've watched and giving recommendations.

As the parent manager of your child's Google Account, you can pause or clear their search and watch history from Family Link. You can also clear the history from your parent settings Family Centre page in YouTube.

To better protect children, ads in certain categories are prohibited and personalised ads are turned off. Viewers of 'Made for Kids' content may see an ad bumper before and after a video ad is shown. This bumper helps to alert them when an advertisement is starting and ending. If you have a YouTube Premium family plan, your child is eligible for ad-free content and other shared benefits of membership.

Videos where the creator has told us that there's a paid product placement or endorsement in their video will be shown to supervised accounts on YouTube. These videos must also comply with the ad policy on videos that are 'Made for Kids'.

Supervised accounts on YouTube for teens*

* Supervised experiences for pre-teens is available to children under 13 (or the relevant age in their country or region). Supervised experiences for teens is available to teens over 13 (or the relevant age in their country or region).