The YouTube your kids and teens love, with the protections you want
Kids and teens come to YouTube for the content that brings them joy. And with YouTube's accounts built for children and teens, you can feel good that they're here, too.
Younger kids
A separate app made just for kids.
- Choose from three age-based content settings to find the best viewing experience for each of your children. All "made for kids" content on YouTube Kids abides by our quality content principles
- Use parental controls to set screen-time limits, approve what your kids watch through the 'Approved content only' setting, block videos and channels, and more
- Watch on all devices across mobile, desktop and smart TVs
Older kids
Kid accounts on YouTube, supervised by you.
- Choose the content setting that's best for your child and block channels you don't approve of. All "made for kids" content on YouTube abides by our quality content principles
- Set time management controls to limit scrolling on the Shorts feed and customize reminders for breaks and bedtime
- All kid accounts have default protections, like autoplay being off and certain features, such as uploading content to YouTube, being disabled
Teens
Teen accounts on YouTube, with the option to supervise.
- When a parent supervises a teen account, parents can gain insights into their teen's YouTube channel activity and enable parental controls, like limiting scrolling on the Shorts feed.
- We prioritize content recommendations from creators that adhere to our high-quality content standards for teens.
- All teen accounts have default protections, like take a break and bedtime reminders, or all YouTube uploads being private by default. Some features are blocked until a teen turns 16.
Built-in protections for all kids and teens
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Quality content standards for children and teens
YouTube equips creators with content quality principles to help them make age-appropriate and enriching content for kids and teens. For channels and videos that are "made for kids," YouTube provides an extra layer of protection by removing features like leaving comments and switching off notifications.
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Time management controls
To encourage healthy digital habits, all kid and teen accounts on YouTube receive default nudges to take breaks and go to bed. Parents can customize these reminders and set the amount of time for scrolling the Shorts feed in the Family Centre.
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Limits on repeat viewing of certain content
For teens watching a broader range of topics on YouTube, there are automatic limits to avoid repeated recommendations of videos related to topics including comparing physical features, idealizing weight or displaying social aggression. -
Stricter defaults for teens when they upload
Users must be aged 13 or older (or relevant age in your country) to create videos or Shorts on YouTube. Video uploads are set to private by default for all teen accounts, and teens must be 16 or older to live stream.
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Mental health tools
When viewers search for terms related to suicide, self-harm or eating disorders, they see a full-page panel connecting them to third-party crisis hotlines. We also curate shelves of evidence-based content to ensure teens find reliable information on anxiety, depression and more.
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No personalized ads
YouTube turns off all personalized ads and restricts sensitive ad categories to be shown to all users under 18. And for kids under 13 (or relevant age in your country), YouTube further restricts ads on topics such as media and games not suitable for children, dating, weight loss, politics, religion and more.
FAQ
You can decide which YouTube account 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 offers a safer and simpler experience for children. Comes with tools for parents and caregivers to guide their viewing journey.
Supervised kid account on YouTube: A parent-managed version of regular YouTube with limited features and Digital Wellbeing protections. Learn more about supervised kid accounts on YouTube.
Supervised teen accounts on YouTube: A voluntary supervised experience of regular YouTube that parents or teens can set up. Learn more about supervised teen accounts on YouTube.
Who is it for?
YouTube Kids: Kids whose parents want to choose content for them to watch based on 3 age-based content settings: Preschool (ages 4 and under), Younger (ages 5–8), and Older (ages 9–12).
Supervised kid accounts on YouTube: Kids 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 teen accounts on YouTube: Teens over 13 (or the relevant age in their country or region) who are using YouTube, with the chosen option to link their account with their parents' account for additional supervision.
How much content is available for my child?
YouTube Kids: Includes a smaller selection of videos than a supervised kid account on YouTube. The amount of available content changes according to the content setting you choose (in order): Preschool (ages 4 and under), Younger (ages 5–8), and Older (ages 9–12).
Supervised kid account on YouTube: Includes more videos and music than our separate YouTube Kids app. The amount of available content changes according to the content setting you choose: Explore, Explore More, or Most of YouTube.
Supervised teen accounts on YouTube: All of YouTube, except age-restricted content. Parents can also get insights into their teen's channel activity.
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 or teen, and choosing a content setting for them, this will provide additional limits on the content they can find or get 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 Kids has a full suite of parental controls in the app so you can customize your child's experience. You can create individual profiles for each of your kids, decide what content to make available to them, set a timer to limit screen time, see recent videos your children have been watching and so much more. Learn more here.
Supervised kid accounts on YouTube: Your child's supervised account on YouTube is linked to your own account, which gives you the ability to adjust their account settings. This includes changing their content setting, pausing or clearing their history, blocking channels, managing screen time through take a break and bedtime reminders, setting daily Shorts feed time limits and, if needed, removing their access to YouTube. Learn more here.
Supervised teen accounts on YouTube: Teens with their own Google Account can use YouTube independently or link with their parent's account to set up a supervised teen account. With a supervised teen account, you can gain insights into your teen's YouTube channel activity, as well as set Digital Wellbeing reminders such as take a break and bedtime reminders. You can also help your teen be more intentional about how they watch, with a control to set the amount of time spent scrolling Shorts. Learn more here.
YouTube is a part of Google and adheres to Google's privacy policies and principles. We know it's important for you to understand what personal info we collect in association with your child's Google Account. We also know 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) explains our privacy practices.
Your child can manage and learn more about their YouTube privacy settings and controls under "Your data in YouTube" 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 on the Family Centre page on YouTube.
To better protect children and teens, ads in certain categories are prohibited and personalized 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 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 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."