Enabling Restrictions on iPad

Suppose that you let your child use your iPad, but you want to put certain restrictions on it so they don’t visit adult sites, watch adult content, or purchase a bunch of apps from the App Store! That’s the beauty of restrictions on iPad, iPhones, and other iDevices.

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How do you enable restrictions on iPhone or iPad?

Restrictions for iOS 12 and above

1. Go to Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions 
2. If you don’t have a Screen Time Passcode, set one up before making any changes in Content & Privacy Restrictions
   1. Write down or otherwise store that Screen Time Passcode, so you don’t forget it. You’ll need to enter it to make any changes or disable Restrictions in the future.
3. Toggle on Content & Privacy 
4. Make the selections for what you want to allow and what you want to disallow
   1. For Apps, select Allow Apps
   2. Toggle Apps Off to restrict access 
5. The default setting is Allow, so check all the items and ensure that you set-up all the restrictions you want
   1. Don’t forget about iTunes & App Store Purchases, Passcode Changes, and Account Changes
6. There are also options to restrict the type of content viewed via Content Restrictions
   1. Choose rating limits for things like Movies, TV Shows, Music, Apps, Web Content, and so forth 

Restrictions For iOS 11 and below

1. Go to Settings > General > Restrictions and tap Enable Restrictions 
2. It prompts you to set an arbitrary four-digit passcode.  Then it re-prompts you to confirm that passcode.  This is so that your child cannot go into the settings and re-enable your restrictions without knowing the passcode
   1. Write down or otherwise store that Restrictions Passcode, so you don’t forget it. You’ll need to enter it to make any changes or disable Restrictions in the future
3. Toggle apps off to disallow users from accessing those apps 

What is Restrictions passcode (Screen Time passcode) on iPhone or iPad?

Your Restrictions or Screen Time is a four-digit passcode set-up by the parent or iDevice user to limit the apps, content, and store purchases, and other services that children and other users have access to. Once set, that passcode can’t be changed if your device has Restrictions are enabled. 

If you forget your Screen Time or restrictions passcode, you must restore your iDevice using iTunes to reset this passcode. However, you cannot restore the iPhone or iPad from a backup that contains the Restrictions, so either choose a backup made before restrictions were set or choose to set up as new.

What do Restrictions do on an iPhone or iPad?

The icons for the respective disabled apps will no longer show up on the Home screen. This means that even you cannot access them.

However after your child is done using the iPad, you can re-enable them by tapping on “Disable Restrictions” (shown above).  But you will need to know the Restrictions or Screen Time password that was set previously.

SK( Managing Editor )

Obsessed with tech since the early arrival of A/UX on Apple, Sudz (SK) is responsible for the editorial direction of AppleToolBox. He is based out of Los Angeles, CA.

Sudz specializes in covering all things macOS, having reviewed dozens of OS X and macOS developments over the years.

In a former life, Sudz worked helping Fortune 100 companies with their technology and business transformation aspirations.