Set Up Your Kid’s Nintendo Switch

Two minutes of prep that makes everything else make sense.

• Get the Parental Controls app. Visit p.nintendo.com on your phone to download the free Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app (iPhone or Android), and sign in with your own Nintendo Account. You need to be 18 or older.

  No Nintendo Account yet? The app walks you through making one.

• Set things with your youngest player in mind. Most Switch controls apply to the whole console, not to each player. If siblings share a Switch, set it for the youngest, then give specific games a pass later (section 4).

  The exceptions are GameChat and spending, which you set for each kid.

Your family group lives on the Nintendo Account website. It’s where you manage purchases, and it’s how the app knows who your kids are.

• Create a Nintendo Account for your kid. Enter their real birthday, then pick a sign-in ID and password for them. Accounts for kids under 13 are automatically set as Supervised. Where to find it: accounts.nintendo.com›, then Family group›, then Add a member›, then Create an account for a child

  The first time, Nintendo asks for a one-time $0.50 credit card charge. That’s how US privacy law has you confirm you’re the parent.

• Invite their account and set it as Supervised, together. Invite the email address on their Nintendo Account. Once they accept, select their account and choose Set as supervised account. They get an email to accept that too, so sit down and do it with them. Where to find it: accounts.nintendo.com›, then Family group›, then Add a member›, then Invite someone to your family group

  Then: Family group, their account, Set as supervised account.

• Add your co-parent as a parent/guardian. Invite them the same way, then select their account and choose Set as parent/guardian. Two parents can share the app’s controls (section 8). Where to find it: accounts.nintendo.com›, then Family group›, then Their account›, then Set as parent/guardian

  Only the family group’s admin (usually whoever created it) can do this part.

• Know how supervision ends. It doesn’t switch off on a birthday. Once they’re 13 or older, a parent can remove Supervised status in the family group, whenever you both feel ready.
• Know how supervision ends. It stays until a parent removes it in the family group. GameChat needs your approvals until they’re 16, and after that only if their account is still supervised.

Do these on the console. It’s mostly a one-time thing.

• Give each kid their own user, signed in to their account. Sign in with the account from section 2. Their own user keeps their saves separate, and it’s how the app shows you who played what. Where to find it: System Settings›, then Users›, then Add User›, then Sign In to a Nintendo Account

  Once a Nintendo Account is linked to a user it can’t be unlinked, so double-check you’re on the right one.

• Link the Switch to your app. Open the app and tap Start to get a six-digit Link Code. On the Switch, enter the code and select Link. Where to find it: System Settings›, then Parental Controls›, then Set Up Parental Controls›, then App Has Been Installed

  On the original Switch it’s Parental Controls Settings, then “I have the app installed. What’s next?” See Change Settings instead? Controls were already set up on the console: select it, enter the PIN, and choose the option to use the app. New settings reach the Switch as soon as it’s online.

• Find your PIN in the app. The PIN lets you override a limit right on the Switch, and the Switch asks for it before anyone can change the date and time, delete a user, or reset the console. Where to find it: The app›, then Parental Controls›, then PIN

  Typing it in on the Switch? Do it in handheld mode, or use the Control Stick input, so nobody can watch the numbers on the TV.

Based on the ESRB ratings printed on every game box.

• Pick a restriction level. Choose Child, Pre-Teen, or Teen, or Custom Settings to pick an exact age. Tap Save when you’re done. Where to find it: The app›, then Parental Controls›, then Restricted Features

  Child allows games rated E (Everyone). Pre-Teen also allows E10+. Both limit chatting with other players too (section 6).

  Teen allows everything except M (Mature). Pre-Teen stops at E10+ and also limits chatting with other players (section 6).

• Give specific games a pass with the Allow List. Fine with a game that’s rated above your setting? Add it here and it plays without the PIN. It still counts toward play time. Where to find it: The app›, then Parental Controls›, then Allow List

  A game shows up on the list after it’s been started once on the Switch.

• Turn on notifications. Your phone can tell you when a new game is downloaded, when time is up, and when a GameChat request comes in. Where to find it: The app›, then Parental Controls›, then Settings (gear icon)›, then Notification Settings

Let the Switch be the one saying “time’s up” instead of you. Play time is set for the whole console, and the app still shows you each kid’s time.

• Set a daily play-time limit. Pick anywhere up to 6 hours a day, or turn on Vary by Day for different limits on school nights and weekends. Where to find it: The app›, then Parental Controls›, then Play-Time Limit
• Set a bedtime. Choose when play stops each night (anywhere from 4:00 to 11:45 PM), then tap the three dots to pick when it can start again the next morning (6:00 to 9:00 AM). Where to find it: The app›, then Parental Controls›, then Play-Time Limit›, then Bedtime

  Using both a daily limit and a bedtime? Whichever comes first wins.

• Decide between an alarm and Suspend Play. With Suspend Play When Time’s Up off, a notice pops up but the game keeps going. Turn it on and the Switch goes to sleep when time runs out. Most games pick back up right where they left off once more time is added. Where to find it: The app›, then Parental Controls›, then Play-Time Limit›, then Suspend Play When Time’s Up

  For younger kids, Suspend Play is the calmer choice, because the Switch ends it instead of you.

  Plenty of families start teens on the alarm and switch to Suspend Play only if the alarm keeps getting ignored.

• Know how to add more time. When the limit hits, you can add 5, 15, or 30 minutes or an hour from the app, or turn the limit off for the day. Your PIN does it right on the Switch, too. Where to find it: The app›, then Parental Controls›, then Play-Time Limit

Two separate things here: chatting inside games, and GameChat, the Switch 2’s built-in voice and video chat. GameChat also needs a paid Nintendo Switch Online membership.

• Set chatting inside games. Communicating with Others limits messages and chat inside games, for every game or one game at a time. Child and Pre-Teen restrict it, and Teen doesn’t. It doesn’t cover GameChat. Where to find it: The app›, then Parental Controls›, then Restricted Features›, then Custom Settings
• Turn off friend suggestions. So Nintendo doesn’t suggest people for your kid to add. Where to find it: accounts.nintendo.com›, then Family group›, then Their account›, then Privacy and Other Settings›, then Friend Suggestions
• Set up GameChat controls (Switch 2). Required before anyone under 16 can use GameChat. You’ll need a phone number on your own Nintendo Account for a text verification code. Where to find it: The app›, then GameChat›, then Set Up Parental Controls

  For 16 and 17, these controls only apply if their account is still supervised.

• Approve friends one at a time. Your kid picks friends and sends you a request. The app prompts you to ask your kid about each friend before you decide. Add a note (like “soccer team”) so you remember later. Where to find it: The app›, then Parental Controls›, then GameChat›, then New chat-approval requests

  The other kid’s parent has to approve yours too before they can chat. You can withdraw approval anytime.

• Decide on video chat. Choose to be asked every chat session, or don’t allow video at all. If you allow it, pick how much the camera shows: face only, no background, or no filter. Where to find it: The app›, then Parental Controls›, then GameChat›, then Three dots by their name›, then Using Video Chat

  Video only works with a USB camera plugged into the Switch 2.

• Show them how to report someone. They can report a player right inside a GameChat room, which also takes them out of the room. Practice finding it once, together.

Purchase settings are set for each kid on the Nintendo Account website. You can jump there from the app, too.

• Turn on Spending Restrictions. Check the box to turn off purchases and auto-renewals on the Switch and the Nintendo Store, then click Save changes. Where to find it: accounts.nintendo.com›, then Family group›, then Their account›, then Spending Restrictions
• Turn on Age-Based Content Restrictions. Check Restrict so the eShop only shows games that fit their age. Where to find it: accounts.nintendo.com›, then Family group›, then Their account›, then Age-Based Content Restrictions
• Or give them an allowance instead. Rather let them buy their own games? Skip Spending Restrictions and add a set amount to their balance, like with a Nintendo eShop card. They can only spend what’s there.

  A small allowance is a great way for teens to practice making spending choices.

• Lock your own profile. Your profile on the Switch has your payment info. Choose PIN as the verification method and require it for the eShop, so nobody can pick your profile and shop as you. Where to find it: HOME Menu›, then Your user icon›, then User-Verification Settings

  On the original Switch: your user icon, User Settings, Nintendo eShop Settings, then set Sign-In Settings so it always asks you to sign in.

The last few steps make everything above easier to live with day to day.

• Look at Play Activity together. See which games each kid played and for how long, plus a Monthly Summary. For GameChat you’ll see who they chatted with and for how long, but never the conversations themselves. Where to find it: The app›, then Play Activity

  Looking together keeps it a conversation instead of a report card. It’s also a great way to find out which game they’d love you to play with them.

• Share the app with your co-parent. They need to be a parent/guardian in your family group first (section 2). Where to find it: The app›, then Parental Controls›, then Shared Parental Controls
• Talk about what comes next. Agree on how things loosen up as they show you they’re ready: a higher restriction level first, more friends approved, and one day, removing Supervised status. Where to find it: accounts.nintendo.com›, then Family group›, then Their account›, then Remove as supervised account
• Put a checkup on the calendar. Revisit these settings at birthdays, every new school year, and whenever a big new game comes home.