Child account on Windows: why it should be a standard user

Administrator vs. standard user: what Microsoft says

Windows has two account types. According to Microsoft Support, "Administrators can change settings, install software, and access all files," which means they "have complete control over the system." A standard user works with their own apps and files. Anything that changes the whole computer needs an administrator's approval.

The same page gives a family example: "parents can have their own accounts with administrative privileges to manage settings and install software, while children can have standard accounts with parental controls enabled." Microsoft adds that "it's safer to have fewer administrators and to use standard user accounts for day-to-day activities."

The catch is the first account. During setup, Windows creates a local account in the Administrators group, as Microsoft's documentation on local accounts describes. If the laptop was set up in your child's name, your child has administrator rights. It is an odd result: you bought a computer for homework, and the kid doing the homework ended up in charge of it.

Why an administrator can remove any app

A parental control app lives on the same computer as your child. Its files sit on the same drive, and its service runs in the same copy of Windows your child signs in to. If your child controls the whole system, your child also controls the parental control app. Removing it is possible. It only takes time and persistence.

Microsoft says this plainly about its own parental controls. Its Family Safety troubleshooting page notes that a child might be set as an administrator on the device and that "as an administrator they can change or break the Family Safety settings." The advice on that page is to make the child's account a standard user. A third-party app is in no better position, because no app has more rights than the computer's administrator. We cover what the built-in Windows tools can and cannot do in our Family Safety review.

You can see the difference in an ordinary confirmation window. When an app asks to change the system, Windows asks an administrator for consent, and clicking Yes is enough. A standard user sees the same window asking for an administrator's password. That is how User Account Control works. As long as only you know the password, your child cannot get past that window.

We do not describe how protection gets removed, and we will not. Any child with administrator rights can remove any parental control app. So the fix is to set up the computer's accounts correctly.

How to give your child a standard account

These steps follow Microsoft's guide to user accounts. Menu names may differ slightly depending on your version of Windows.

1. If the computer has only one account and it belongs to your child, add one for yourself. Open Settings > Accounts > Other users and select Add account. You can sign in with a Microsoft account or create a local one with Add a user without a Microsoft account. Microsoft recommends the first option.

2. In the same section, open the menu for your new account, select Change account type, choose Administrator, and select OK.

3. Give your account a password your child does not know. An administrator without a password is barely different from a child administrator, and a sticky note under the keyboard will be found on day one.

4. Sign out of your child's account and sign in to yours.

5. Open Other users again, open the menu for your child's account, and select Change account type. Choose Standard User and select OK.

Only the account type changes. Your child keeps the same account, with their files and apps where they were.

If you use a Microsoft family group, your child needs to sign in to Windows with their own Microsoft account. We explain how to add it to your family in our guide to the Microsoft family group on Windows 11.

What changes for your child

Your child can play, study, and go online as before. The difference shows up when an installer needs administrator rights or your child wants to change settings for the whole computer. Windows will then ask for an administrator's password, which means yours.

It is less convenient, no argument there. A new game on Saturday night now waits until you come over and type the password. Agree in advance on how your child asks for an install: a text, a note, or a set time of day. Otherwise every request turns into a small fight.

Tell your child about the change ahead of time and explain why. A teenager will notice the missing rights on the first evening, and a discovered change makes for a harder conversation. If the reaction is strong, our piece on talking with a child who is upset about limits may help.

No separate account: what Gardion does

A standard account does not suit every family. The laptop is shared, school apps keep asking for rights, or a parent has no energy left for typing passwords. So Gardion installs and runs on computers where the child is an administrator. On such an account we raise the bar, but we cannot call it a ban.

The service. During installation, Gardion removes the Administrators group's right to stop or delete its service, so your child cannot turn it off by accident or out of curiosity. Doing that would take a deliberate effort to break it.

The files. A standard user cannot delete the program's files. An administrator has the rights to do so. For that case, Gardion watches its own protection and restores it after tampering.

Alerts for parents. Gardion tells you about tampering attempts and clock changes, and you also get an alert if the computer boots into Safe Mode.

Gardion does not check whether your child is an administrator, and the installer will not warn you about it, so check the account type yourself using the steps above.

On an administrator account, Gardion alerts you to an attempt, and a stray click will not switch it off. Only Windows itself can stop an app from being removed, and it does so when you are the administrator and your child is a standard user. Gardion works the same way on a standard account, but your child no longer has the rights needed to remove apps. That is why we recommend setting up a standard account for your child even if Gardion is already installed. The installation guide walks you through setup, and the Gardion for Windows page lists what it does on a PC. The first 14 days are free with every feature, no card needed.

If the app has already been removed

Start with a conversation. Find out which rule was in the way: a game limit, the bedtime schedule, a blocked site. A rule your child sees as unfair is sometimes easier to revisit together than to defend again.

Then fix the rights. Check your child's account type and switch it to Standard User using the steps above. Without that, reinstalling will only help for a while.

Only then reinstall the app using the installation guide. If something does not work, contact Gardion support by email at app@gardion.io or through @GardionSupportBot on Telegram.

Phones have a similar story with different system rights. On Android, only root or device owner mode can prevent an app from being removed, and both come with serious downsides for a family phone. We cover that in our article about Android.