Certain TV programmes and films on Netflix are far from suitable for children – which, of course, makes them very appealing to curious kids. Luckily, the streaming service makes it easy to lock away gory, adult and sweary content. Here’s how to protect Netflix with a PIN.
You may have noticed that default Netflix already has a dedicated section called Children, which contains no inappropriate content whatsoever. However, you can never underestimate kids’ tech-savviness – especially if friends have told them about “the scariest film ever” – so it’s worth exploring the PIN option for peace of mind.
How to protect Netflix with a PIN
Open up Netflix in your desktop browser of choice, click on the dropdown menu in the top-right of the screen and select Account.
In the page that appears, scroll down to “Parental controls” under the Setting subheading.
Enter your password into the box that appears, making sure you’re not being watched by prying eyes…
Now it’s time to set your PIN. As an example, we’ve gone for 1234, but the best and obvious advice is to choose something your kids won’t guess. They always know more than you think.
You’ll receive an email containing the PIN so, if you have a shared family PC, make sure only you have access to your inbox.
Click Save to start blocking. By default, everything will be unprotected, but you can use the green slider to grey out certain certifications: “Adults 15/18” would be the obvious choice, but you can also switch off “Teens 12” and even “Older Kids PG”.
Usefully, as you can see from the screenshot above, you can choose to PIN-protect certain titles, if you’d rather not opt for a wholesale ban. They could also be “exceptions to the rule” – for example, a film in the Little Kids category that you know will scare (or has previously scared) your children.
And that’s it. Now, when someone tries to watch something they shouldn’t, they’ll be shown the following screen…
To switch off the PIN, head back to the “Parental controls” section of Settings, enter your account password and toggle the green slider back to full.
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