PlayStation · Privacy & Security

Set profile privacy and manage family/parental restrictions

PlayStation's Family Management lets an adult account holder create child and teen accounts with age-appropriate restrictions on game ratings, playtime, spending, and communication — separate from each account's individual privacy settings for profile visibility and messaging.

How to open Privacy & Parental Controls

  1. Go to Settings → Family and Parental Controls → Add Family Member, or set it up at PlayStation's account website.
  2. Create or link the child's account and set their date of birth.
  3. Set game/app age-rating limits, playtime limits, and spending limits for that account.
  4. Review Communication and User-Generated Content restriction levels separately from age ratings.

What you should know

  • Family Management is set up at PlayStation's account website or via Settings → Family and Parental Controls on the console, and requires the family manager's own account.
  • Per-account privacy settings (who can see your profile, real name, friends list, and who can message you) live under Settings → Users and Accounts → Privacy Settings, and can be adjusted individually for each account.
  • Age-based restrictions on playable content use a system-level Restriction Passcode, separate from the account password, found under Settings → Family and Parental Controls → PS5 System Restrictions.

The system restriction passcode is independent of your account password — if it's forgotten, resetting it requires contacting PlayStation Support with proof of console/account ownership.

Why it matters

Default privacy settings on a new child account are more permissive than most parents expect, and content restrictions must be configured per child — skipping this step is the most common cause of a young player accessing mature titles or chat unsupervised.

Best practices

  • Review each child account's individual privacy defaults after creation — family management sets baseline restrictions, but some communication settings still need manual confirmation.
  • Set spending limits even on accounts with no saved payment method, since gift card balances can still be used to purchase content.

Common problems and fixes

Child can't join voice chat or party chat with friends
Raise the Communication and User-Generated Content restriction level for that account under Family Management.
Forgot the system restriction passcode
Contact PlayStation Support directly — passcode resets require identity/account verification and can't be bypassed on-console.

Tips and tricks

  • The family manager receives a periodic activity email summarizing each child account's playtime and spending, useful for reviewing limits without logging into the console.

Frequently asked questions

Can I change a child account's restrictions from my own console?

Yes, if you're signed in as the family manager, restrictions can be adjusted from Settings → Family and Parental Controls without needing the child's device.