My Family on the Windows Phone website is the way to turn on app and game downloads for a child's phone. If the child has a Windows Phone 8, you'll also be able to manage their app and
game download settings, including game ratings, on the My Family page.
To set up My Family, you'll need to sign in with both the child's and the parent's
Microsoft account email address and password. Then you can accept the Windows Phone Store Terms of Use so the child can download apps.
If you want the child to be able to download Xbox games as well, you'll need to go to the
Xbox website and accept the Xbox Terms of Use on their behalf. This is separate from the Windows Phone Store Terms of Use.
Running into issues? See
My Family FAQ for answers to some common setup questions.
Note
My Family is only available for Windows Phone 8.
To set up My Family so a child can download apps and games
On your computer, go to
My Family on the Windows Phone website.
Sign in using the parent's
Microsoft account email address and password. If the parent doesn't have a Windows Phone, that's fine—you can still set up My Family. If the parent doesn't have a Microsoft account, you'll have a chance to create one.
On the My Family setup page, click Get started.
To add the child to My Family, click Go. On the sign-in page, enter the child's Microsoft account email address and password. If the child doesn't have a Microsoft account, click
Sign up to create one.
On the My Family home page, next to the child's name, click Fix it and follow the instructions to accept the Windows Phone Store Terms of Use. Now the child can download apps from the Windows Phone Store.
To enable the child to download Xbox games as well, go to Xbox.com, sign in with the child's account, and follow the instructions to accept the Xbox Terms of Use.
Tip
You can also add another parent to My Family so both parents can jointly manage kids' settings. Go to the My Family home page and click
Add a parent. Parents won't be able to change each other's settings.
To change app download settings for a child
You can set whether or not a child can download apps and games from the Windows Phone Store and which game ratings you want the child to be able to view and download.
On your computer, go to windowsphone.com.
In the drop-down menu under Explore, click My Family.
If you're already signed in to windowsphone.com, you'll see your name, not
Explore, at the top of the drop-down menu, and this sign-in step will be skipped.
On the My Family home page, next to the child's name, click Change settings, and then do any of the following:
To allow the child to purchase apps and games, under App+game downloads, select
Allow free and paid.
To allow the child to download only free apps and games, under App+game downloads, select
Allow free only. This will also prevent the child from making in-app purchases, even from within free apps.
To prevent the child from downloading any apps or games, under App+game downloads, select
Don't allow.
To set the most mature game rating you want the child to be able to browse or download, turn on the
Game rating filter. To go to the Microsoft Family Safety website and change the rating, click
Change rating.
To allow the child to browse and download unrated games, select the check box next to
Allow unrated games. (Some unrated games might have content you'd rather the child not see.)
Note
When the Game rating filter is turned off, the game rating settings are hidden. Turn it on to reveal them.
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Adult users do not need to set up My Family settings.
All you need to do is go to
https://account.live.com/ and sign in with the Microsoft account
of the phone (you can find it in Settings>Email+Accounts) and verify the date of birth of the account. The date needs to be correct and complete (month/day/year). After correcting the date of birth, you need to restart the phone and you should be able to start
downloading applications. This will only work with the Microsoft account
of the phone. The date of birth associated to any secondary accounts is not relevant to the Family settings on Windows Phone 8.
Kind regards,
Vasilia K'
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