Gardion

How to stop Google Family Link supervision

Family Link is turned off the intended way: a parent stops supervision from the Family Link app, and a child aged 13 or older can start it themselves — but only with a parent’s approval. Below are the exact steps from Google’s own help, and the trap that locks the phone if the account is deleted wrong.

A mother and teenager looking at a phone together, with the Gardion mascot

First, the factory-reset trap

Don’t delete the child’s Google account while it’s still on the phone. The device then locks and asks for a factory reset, and a reset on Android runs into Factory Reset Protection: it demands the very account you just deleted. Do it the other way round — stop supervision or remove the account from the device first, and only then delete the account.

Stop supervision in the Family Link app

  1. 1

    Open the Family Link app

    On the parent’s phone where the family is set up.

  2. 2

    Select the child’s profile

    It’s at the top left of the app’s home screen.

  3. 3

    Open “Controls”

    The section with the child’s control settings.

  4. 4

    Open “Account settings”

    Then open “About supervision”.

  5. 5

    Tap “Stop supervision”

    Then follow the steps Google shows on screen. Supervision ends and the account becomes a standard one.

If you’re doing it from the child’s phone

  1. Settings → “Digital Wellbeing & parental controls” (Android 8.1+; on older versions Google → All services → Parental controls).
  2. The three-dot menu at the top right → “Stop supervision”.
  3. Confirm by signing in as the parent or with the Parent Access Code, then follow the steps on screen.

Who can stop it, and when

Supervision can be stopped once the child is 13 (or the applicable age in your country). Until 18, a parent’s approval is required. The child’s Android device needs Android 7.0 or newer.

Questions parents ask

I forgot the parent Google password.

Supervision can’t be removed without the parent password — that’s by design. Recover access to the parent Google account first, then stop supervision.

The child turned 13 — can they do it themselves?

Yes, from 13 (or the applicable age in your country) the child can start it. But until they’re 18 it still needs a parent’s approval.

An error appears when stopping supervision.

Per Google’s help, the child needs to update their Google Account, then try again.

A second-hand phone came with someone else’s Family Link.

Don’t force-delete the account from the device — you can trigger an FRP lock. Remove supervision through the account owner or return it to them; without the account details a reset won’t unlock the phone.

Steps follow Google’s official Family Link help. support.google.com/families

Why Gardion is built differently

Family Link comes off in a couple of minutes once the account holder does it — including a teen from 13. Gardion is a device administrator, and if the child opens the uninstall screen or the one that turns protection off, it pulls them away and signals the parent at once.

See how Gardion works
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