How to Limit Screen Time for Kids — Without a Fight Every Night

Option 1. Built-in Windows controls

The fastest start is Microsoft Family Safety. You create a separate Microsoft account for your child, mark it as a child account at family.microsoft.com, then set a daily limit and the hours the computer is available. It’s free, and there’s nothing to install.

The downsides show up within a week. It only works while the child is signed in under their own child account — not a shared or local one. Switch accounts and the limit is gone. If the child is an administrator on their PC (which is usually the case), they lift the restrictions themselves — through ordinary settings, no hacking required. And there are no per-app limits like "20 minutes on TikTok, unlimited for schoolwork" — just one counter for everything.

Option 2. Through the router

Keenetic, ASUS and most modern routers can cut internet to a specific device on a schedule. Handy when you have several kids and want to drop the Wi-Fi for everyone at 10 p.m.

But the router sees only traffic, and only at home. The moment the kid takes the laptop to a friend’s place or shares internet from their phone, the control evaporates. The router can’t tell a lesson from a shooter — it kills the whole connection. And the device itself still works: offline games aren’t going anywhere.

If late-night gaming is the problem, see our article on kids on the computer late at night.

Option 3. A dedicated app on the computer

Here the limit lives on the device itself — not in the network, not in an account. So it works at a friend’s house and with no internet at all. You can set an overall daily limit, separate limits per app, different time on weekdays and weekends, a "schoolwork only during class hours" schedule.

Plus the thing the first two options lack: anti-bypass protection. A good app won’t let a VPN switch on and restores its settings if someone tries to knock them out. With Gardion the block sits at the Windows level itself, known VPN apps are closed, and Gardion can be removed only with the parent PIN or a recovery code. And the child sees a helper on screen, not a hidden spy.

So which to pick

If your child is 6–8 and not an admin, built-in Family Safety is enough — start there. If you have several devices and want one shared lights-out, add the router. But if the child is older, tech-savvy and on Windows, get a dedicated app with anti-bypass protection — otherwise they’ll undo everything else in one evening. How to agree on the rules with your kid before you set anything up is covered in your kid plays video games all day.