7 min · read

How to Turn Off Parental Controls on a Child’s Phone — Every Way

Controls aren’t meant to last forever. A child grows up, the password to the parent account gets lost within a couple of years, and a phone sometimes arrives second-hand with someone else’s Family Link already inside. Each of these can be undone, but the path differs — and one wrong move locks the phone so hard that even a factory reset won’t save it. Here is every case in order, and where that trap is hidden.

When it’s time to remove controls, and when it’s too early

The reasons to remove controls are usually calm ones. The child moved up to middle school and is ready to own their time. The family is selling or handing down an old phone. The protection went onto the wrong device in a hurry. In all of these, controls come off like an ordinary setting — no lost data, no factory reset.

It’s different when the person asking isn’t the parent. You don’t remove controls from someone else’s phone and account: getting around another person’s protection is access to their device, and this article isn’t about that. From here on it’s only about your own controls, and about helping a teenager remove them out in the open. Step-by-step guides for each system are collected in the “how to remove parental controls” section; below is the overall map of which path fits your case.

Way 1. Through the parent account — the normal path

Every parental control is built to be removed by the holder of the parent account, from the app rather than from the child’s phone. You open the control app on your own phone, find the child’s profile and choose to stop supervision or remove the device. The child’s data stays put and the phone keeps working as usual.

That is how Google Family Link, Kaspersky Safe Kids, Qustodio and the rest come off — only the location of the button differs. Exact steps with screens are in the guides for Family Link, Kaspersky Safe Kids and other systems. If you are choosing between Family Link and a dedicated app, there is a separate page on the Family Link alternative.

Way 2. Family Link and turning 13 — what changes on its own

From age 13 (the threshold differs in some countries) a child in Google Family Link can start removing supervision themselves. Until they turn 18 it still needs a parent’s approval, so it cannot be done in secret. When the child reaches that age, Google sometimes offers to move them to a standard account, and the parent gets a notification.

The steps on the child’s side are simple: phone Settings → “Digital Wellbeing & parental controls” → the three-dot menu → “Stop supervision”, then the parent signs in or enters the Parent Access Code. The steps are checked against Google’s official help. This exact case is covered in the how to stop Family Link guide.

Way 3. The parent password is lost

Supervision cannot be removed without the parent password — that is what the whole protection rests on. First recover access to the parent account through Google’s password recovery, and only then remove the controls the normal way. Third-party “Family Link password resets” are not needed for this and are usually dangerous.

One more thing: do not delete the child’s account from the phone while supervision is still on. That is what locks the phone — the next section explains why.

Way 4. A second-hand phone with someone else’s controls

A phone bought second-hand often comes with someone else’s Google account and Family Link switched on. There is one working path — reach the previous owner so they stop supervision and unlink their account from their side. Without that, the phone stays tied to their account.

A factory reset does not help here; it hurts. Android has Factory Reset Protection: after a reset the phone demands the same Google account it carried before. You do not have it, so the device turns into a brick. That is why a used phone is worth taking only clean, checked in front of you: with no other account and no parental control on it.

What not to do: factory reset and back-alley “unlockers”

A factory reset is the first thing that comes to mind and the worst thing to do. It wipes all data, and because of FRP it also locks the phone to someone else’s account. To remove your own controls a reset is not needed at all: supervision comes off from the app with the data intact.

Ads offering to “unlock Family Link / remove parental controls for a small fee” are a trap of their own. At best they will do the same account recovery you can do yourself for free. At worst they ask for passwords and access to the phone, install something of their own, or take the money and vanish. Your own controls come off through your parent account, someone else’s through the owner; a middleman has no place in that chain.

How Gardion handles it

Gardion has a simple principle: a parent can remove the controls, a child cannot. The app runs as a device administrator, so a long press on the icon will not delete it. The parent removes it in a couple of taps from the dashboard — the same account-holder path that every other system uses.

If the child does open the uninstall screen or the one that turns protection off, Gardion pulls them away from it and signals the parent at once. Removing the controls stays an adult’s decision, and it cannot be done quietly on the side. Trying it is free: 14 days of full access, no card needed, Android and Windows. How kids usually try to get around protection, and what to do about it, is in the breakdown on bypassing controls.

A father points at something on a phone screen while his daughter looks at it with him — Both setting controls up and taking them off go easier together — when the child understands what is changing and why.

In short

Can I remove controls without deleting the Google account?

Yes. Stopping supervision and deleting the account are two different actions. You only stop supervision; the child’s account, with its mail, photos and purchases, stays. In fact, deleting the account from the phone before supervision is off is the risky move — it can trigger a lock.

Will a factory reset remove parental controls?

On your own phone it is an unnecessary, risky step: controls come off from the app, while a reset wipes the data. On someone else’s phone a reset will not help at all — because of FRP the device will ask for the previous Google account.

My child turned 13 and removed the controls themselves. Is that normal?

Yes — from 13 Google allows it, but until 18 only with a parent’s approval. It cannot be done in secret: the parent gets a notification and an approval request.

How do I remove controls if the phone is not mine?

Only the account holder can remove them. If the device and account belong to someone else, the one honest path is to return the phone to its previous owner or ask them to stop supervision from their side.

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