Parental controls on PS5 rest on two things that are easy to mix up: restrictions tied to the child’s account and restrictions tied to the console itself. If you only set up the first, your child can get around almost everything by creating a new account. Sony is aware of this and points out the gaps in this protection itself, and that’s the most useful part of the whole topic.
Who can do what in the family
A family on PlayStation has one family manager. This role is created the moment you add the first member, and it can’t be removed later, nor can the family manager leave the family. Alongside the family manager, there can be members designated as parents/guardians with a smaller set of permissions.
| Action | Family manager | Parent/guardian |
|---|---|---|
| Add or remove a family member | yes (a child member can’t be removed) | no |
| Set parental controls | yes | yes |
| See the child’s playtime | yes | yes |
| Grant an exception for a game (PS5 only) | yes | yes |
| Reset a child member’s password | yes | no |
| Spend from the family manager’s wallet | yes | no |
In Czechia, the service isn’t intended for anyone under seven, and the account of anyone under eighteen is automatically a child account. Once the child becomes eligible, they’re notified automatically about upgrading to an adult account. The upgrade isn’t mandatory, but it can’t be undone.
How to create a child account
On the console, sign in, select the profile icon in the top right and go to Switch User → Add User → Get Started → Create an Account. From a browser the path is shorter: in Account Management, select Family Management and choose Set Up Now → Add Child. You’ll use this second route later too, because you can change parental controls from any browser without sitting at the console.
Account or console? The difference that makes or breaks it
Parental controls are tied to the account, not the device. Sony says it word for word: when you change the settings on one device, the change applies on the others too. That’s good news when your child also plays somewhere other than the TV, for example via Remote Play on a phone or PC or on the PlayStation Portal.
Console restrictions are something else and are set separately in Settings → Family and Parental Controls → PS5 Console Restrictions. They’re protected by a four-digit passcode, and the default passcode is 0000. If you forget it, Sony has no other option than resetting the console, so change it and write it down:
- Sign in as the family manager.
- Settings → Family and Parental Controls → PS5 Console Restrictions.
- Enter the current passcode, which is 0000 if you haven’t changed it yet.
- Select Change Console Restriction Passcode.
- Enter the new four-digit passcode twice.
In the same menu there’s an option called “User Creation and Guest Login”, which you should switch to “Not Allowed”. This blocks both creating new users and guest logins. A third, separate thing is the PS5 login passcode in Settings → Users and Accounts → Login Settings → Set PS5 Login Passcode.
What you can restrict for your child
You’ll find the settings on the console in Settings → Family and Parental Controls → Family Management → select the child, or on the web in Account Management via Family Management → child → Edit. Sony offers three preset levels:
| Child | Younger Teen | Older Teen and Up | |
|---|---|---|---|
| PS5 games and apps | can launch content rated at or below the child’s age | same | same |
| PS4 and PS3 games | up to ages 6 to 7 | up to ages 12 to 13 | up to age 15 |
| Blu-ray Disc | up to age 7 | up to age 13 | up to age 16 |
| DVD | unrestricted | unrestricted | unrestricted |
| Web browser | restricted | restricted | unrestricted |
| Monthly spending limit | 0 | 0 | 0 |
For PS5 games, there’s no level number; the setting works directly with the child’s age. The numeric scale is a legacy of PS4 and PS3, where Sony maps PEGI 3 to level 2, PEGI 7 to level 3, PEGI 12 to level 5, PEGI 16 to level 7 and PEGI 18 to level 9. Sony gives its own example: a thirteen-year-old child corresponds to level 5. Keep this number in mind if you’re also getting older games for the console and wondering whether a PS4 still makes sense today.
Besides age, you can restrict text messaging and voice chat, sharing content the player created, viewing content from other players and connecting to third-party apps. For the older teen level, communication and user-generated content are now set to “Restrict” by default. VR is a separate item: according to Sony, PlayStation VR and PlayStation VR2 headsets aren’t suitable for children under twelve.
The monthly spending limit in PS Store is zero by default. Before you raise it, check what your child actually needs: some content is already included in a PS Plus subscription and doesn’t require another purchase.
Daily playtime limit
To set playtime, the child account must have a time zone filled in. The steps on the console: Settings → Family and Parental Controls → Family Management → select the child → set the time zone → Playtime Settings → save.
There are three things there. “Restrict Playtime” determines whether time is tracked at all. “When Playtime Ends” says what happens at the end: either a notification just appears, or the child is logged out. The third is the play duration and allowed hours, which you can set the same for every day or separately for each day. Before the limit runs out, a notification appears at the top of the screen and the child can request an extension, which you either approve or decline.
Remote management
Since September 2025, Sony has had a standalone PlayStation Family mobile app for iOS and Android. It lets you manage age levels, playtime, communication restrictions, the monthly spending limit and privacy, on both PS5 and PS4. You can see the wallet balance in it, and you get notifications when your child asks for more time, for a blocked game or for communication features. Sony notes that some settings may not be available in all countries and that some family features are only in this app.
What this protection can’t do
This is the part you’d look for in vain in a manufacturer’s how-to, and yet Sony itself writes it down:
- The age level doesn’t cover downloaded content. Sony puts it clearly: once content from PS Store is downloaded to the console, children can access it unless a parental control level is set on the console. So a game downloaded by an adult stays on the drive.
- A new account bypasses all the protection. Sony explicitly expects this, which is why it recommends blocking user creation and guest login and setting a console restriction passcode. Without that, your child needs just a few minutes to create an account with no limits at all.
- Only a fraction of it applies on PC. Sony writes that not all PlayStation games for PC support parental controls set through PlayStation. Playtime, web browsing, the age level for PS5 games or for PS4 and PS3, age filtering of online content and the monthly spending limit don’t apply. What remains are restrictions on communication, user-generated content and some privacy settings; for the rest, Sony points you to the parental controls of Steam, the Epic Games Store or Windows.
- You have no control over someone else’s console. Console restrictions apply to yours. The child’s account carries its restrictions with it, but a friend’s console doesn’t get any passcode from you.
What to set up right away and what can wait
- Right away: change the console restriction passcode from 0000 and block user creation and guest login. Without these two steps, everything else is just a suggestion.
- Right away: create a separate child account for your child instead of letting them play on yours. Otherwise the age levels have nothing to attach to.
- Later: playtime. Set it once you know how much gaming really goes on at home.
- Don’t: rely on the spending limit as your only safeguard against purchases. It doesn’t reach content that’s already downloaded on the console.
If you’re buying the console as a gift, go through the settings before you wrap it, and factor in how much the PS5 costs and what’s included. On the other platform, all the protection is set up from the Microsoft account website rather than the console, and the steps are in the guide to parental controls on Xbox.
FAQ
The PS5 console restriction passcode is 0000 by default. As the family manager, you change it in Settings → Family and Parental Controls → PS5 Console Restrictions. If you forget the new passcode, Sony doesn’t offer recovery and the console has to be reset, so write it down somewhere outside the console.
First set a time zone for the child account, otherwise playtime can’t be saved. Then go to Settings → Family and Parental Controls → Family Management, select the child and open Playtime Settings. You choose the play duration, the allowed hours and whether the child should be logged out when time runs out or just get a notification.
Yes, and Sony itself expects it. The easiest way is to create a new account on the console without restrictions, which is why Sony recommends blocking user creation and guest login. On top of that, the account’s age level doesn’t reach content that’s already downloaded unless a level is also set directly on the console.
Yes, in two ways. The first is the PlayStation Family mobile app for iOS and Android, which Sony launched in September 2025; it handles age levels, playtime, communication restrictions and the monthly spending limit. The second is web-based Account Management in any browser via Family Management → child → Edit.
Information verified as of 19 August 2026. The range of family features in the PlayStation Family app keeps growing and some settings vary by country, so check the levels after any major system update. You’ll find more console guides in the PlayStation hub on Gamers Together, and a good place to start is setting up your PS5 for the first time, step by step.