How to Set Up Parental Controls on Mac OS X

As a parent you want your kids to experience a happy and safe OS environment when they access your Mac OS X. Alike other operating systems Apple’s Mac also adhere to provide the facility of configuring custom environment of your choice for your kids or other users who might use your computer. Mac OS X allows you to configure various settings.

• Set up App Access
• Set up Web Access
• Set up People Access
• Set up Time Limits
• Set up Other Access

Here’s how to set up parental controls on your Mac OS X.

Step 1
Open ‘System Preferences’
Select the ‘Apple’ menu and then select ‘System Preferences’. The ‘System Preferences’ window will appear.



Step 2
Open ‘Parental Controls’
From the ‘System Preferences’ window, launch ‘Parental Controls’. The ‘Parental Controls’ window will appear. Click the ‘Lock’ icon from the bottom-left and then login with valid administrator credentials.



Step 3
Select the ‘User Account’
From the parental controls window, select the ‘User Account’ from the left pane. The parental settings for the user account will appear on the container of the window.



Step 4
Set Up 'Apps Access'
From the parental controls window, go to the ‘Apps’ tab and set up or limit your desired settings related to the app access. Your settings will be applied automatically to the selected user account.



Step 5
Set Up 'Web Access'
From the parental control window, go to the ‘Web’ tab and set up or limit the access to the websites. Your settings will be applied automatically to the selected user account.



Step 6
Set Up 'People Access'
From the parental control window, go to the ‘People’ tab to set up or limit the access to the interaction with the people via games, email and messages. Your settings will be applied automatically to the selected user account.



Step 7
Set Up 'Time Limits'
From the parental control window, go to the ‘Time Limits’ tab and set up or limit the access time for the selected user account. Your settings will be applied automatically to the selected user account.



Step 8
Set Up 'Other Access'
From the parental control window, go to the ‘Others’ tab and set up or limit the access of built-in camera, dictation, profanity in the dictionary, printer, password management and CD/DVD burning for the selected user account. Your settings will be applied automatically to the selected user account.



Isn’t it easy to set up the parental controls and provide a safe environment to other user on your Mac OS X.