GardionFamily Link · Windows
Family Link does not see the computer
A parent looks for the family laptop in the Family Link device list and does not find it. Nothing is broken and nothing is misconfigured.
On iPhone and iPad, and on computers other than Chromebooks, you cannot set up parental controls with Family Link.
The supported list is short: Android 6.0 and newer, and Chromebooks with ChromeOS 71 and newer.
Google support page →What follows from it
The evening moves to the laptop
A Windows computer will not appear in Family Link — not as a device, not as a line in a report. Hence the familiar picture. The phone switches off at nine, the child moves to the laptop and carries on where they left off.
That gap is filled in two ways. One: add separate parental controls for Windows. Two: move both devices into one system so the limit is shared.
What Gardion does
What Gardion does on a computer
Gardion installs on Windows and on Android, and a parent runs both devices from one app.
A limit that holds
The daily limit on the computer works to the end. Minutes run out — the screen locks. It does not stop at a notification.
A schedule
The computer goes dark during lessons and at night.
Programs one by one
Steam, the browser, a messenger: each can have its own limit.
Extra time on request
The child asks, and a parent adds minutes from their phone.
Can I keep Family Link?
You can, and many parents do: Family Link stays on the phone, Gardion takes the computer. There is one inconvenience: two panels instead of one. And the rules have to be remembered twice.
In our experience one place for both devices is easier, but that is the parent’s call.
Questions parents ask
Will Family Link ever see Windows?
Google has not published any plans, and its current help page excludes computers outright.
Would Microsoft Family Safety do?
It takes on Windows and Xbox. An Android phone would then be managed separately from it.
Do I have to remove Family Link before installing Gardion?
No. They do not conflict: they manage different devices.
More on the computer side: control on Windows and how it works. A side-by-side look at the apps is in the comparison. Everything we can limit is on one page.
Cover the computer too
14 days free, no card needed. Windows and Android.