YouTube Introduces New Parental Controls in 2026 to Help Parents Manage Teen Viewing Time and Content

After Instagram, YouTube has also introduced Parental Control on its platform, allowing parents to control what their kids are watching. The app has been working for over a decade to provide tools that protect young viewers from getting involved in content that’s not appropriate for them. As teens and Gen z’s nowadays spend a lot of time on YouTube to learn from educational videos, watch their favorite creators, and enjoy podcasts. Parents often worry about what kind of content their kids are watching, so YouTube’s parental control will give them the opportunity to track what their kids are encountering on the platform.

New Parental Controls for Short-Form Videos

Google-owned video streaming platform will now give more control to parents on how much time their kids are spending on Shots. Parents can now set daily limits on Shorts. In some cases, they will also be able to restrict access completely by setting the timer to zero. The feature is effective and useful when parents want their teens to focus on homework or other offline activities. Not only this, the limit can also be increased during travel or long trips.

Additionally, YouTube is also allowing parents to set Bedtime and Take a Break reminders for supervised accounts.

High-Quality Content

Another essential feature that’s YouTube is introducing is the content principles and a creator guide. These two features are aimed at steering teens toward enriching and high-quality videos o the platform. Content Principles and Creator Guide is developed with inputs from experts at UCLA, the American Psychological Association, and other essential organizations. The guidelines highlighted in the YouTube will help parents to identify content that is either high or low quality for teens.

YouTube also has a recommendation system that uses these standards to highlight high-quality content.

Age-Appropriate Experience

YouTube has also placed Teens in under -18 category and protected accounts. Soon, parents will be able to have a simpler sign-up and account-switching process in the mobile app. The feature will ensure that each family member can access content appropriate for their age and interests, that too without accidentally watching unsuitable videos.