How to turn off parental controls on a PS4, with or without your parental controls password

Dave Johnson

Oct 29, 2019, 22:55 IST

How to turn off parental controls on a PS4, with or without your parental controls password

Shutterstock

You can turn parental controls on or off on your PS4 with these steps.

You can turn parental controls on PS4 on or off at anytime to limit what your kids are allowed to do on their PS4.
If you know your parental controls passcode, you can turn off parental controls on a PS4 using its settings.
If you don't know the passcode, you need to perform a factory reset on your PS4 to wipe out custom settings first.
Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Parental controls can be a godsend, helping parents limit what their kids can do on a variety of devices, including PCs, smartphones, and gaming consoles like the PS4.

On the PS4, they help control screen time and the kind of content young players are exposed to. If you enabled parental controls at some point in the past and now want to remove them, here's what you need to know.

Complimentary Tech Event

Transform talent with learning that works

Capability development is critical for businesses who want to push the envelope of innovation.Discover how business leaders are strategizing around building talent capabilities and empowering employee transformation.Know More

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

PS4 Pro Console (From 399.99 at Best Buy)

How to turn off parental controls on a PS4 if you have the passcode

The default passcode for parental controls is "0000," but you're given an opportunity to change it when you turn on parental control restrictions. That's a good idea, because the default passcode is not only easy to guess, but the PS4 displays the default passcode on every parental control passcode screen. If you know it, turning off this feature is easy.

1. Using the controller, select "Settings."

2. Select "Parental Controls/Family Management."

How to turn off parental controls on PS4

Dave Johnson/Business Insider

There are a slew of parental controls in the Parental Controls/Family Management Settings menu.

3. Select "PS4 System Restrictions."

4. Enter the passcode.

Dave Johnson/Business Insider

The default passcode isn't much of a secret since it's displayed on the passcode screen.

5. Now you're in the PS4 System Restrictions menu. There's no single "turn it all off" switch. Instead, you need to select each item on this page and turn off the parental control restriction if it's enabled.

Dave Johnson/Business Insider

Work your way through the PS4 System Restrictions, turning off any controls you previously enabled.

6. For example, select "New User Creation and Guest Login," then select "Allowed." Press the Back button and then repeat this for "Web Filter," "Default Parental Controls," and so on.

Dave Johnson/Business Insider

Most parental controls are either "allowed" or "not allowed."

7. When you change the status of all the entries on this page to "Allowed," you've turned off all of the parental controls.

How to turn off parental controls on a PS4 if you don't have the passcode

If you don't have the passcode, the only way to disable parental controls is by resetting the PS4 to its factory conditions.

1. Using the controller, navigate to "Settings."

2. Select "Account Management."

3. Select "Activate as Your Primary PS4" and choose "Deactivate."

Dave Johnson/Business Insider

Deactivate this console as your primary PS4 before you perform the reset.

4. You may need to sign back in with your user account. After that, navigate back to "Settings."

5. Select "Initialization."

6. Select "Restore Default Settings." Be sure not to select "Initialize PS4," because that will complete erase your PS4's hard drive.

Dave Johnson/Business Insider

Choose to restore the default settings, which will reset the parental controls passcode to "0000."

7. After the restore is complete, the parental controls password will be reset back to "0000." You can now follow the instructions for turning off parental controls with a passcode listed above.