Set up a standard account for your child on Windows

Why a standard account matters

Every parental control you set up lives or dies on one thing: whether your child can undo it. On Windows, an administrator account can install and uninstall software, remove browser extensions, change system settings and delete other accounts. A standard account can use the computer normally but needs an administrator's password for any of that.

If your child's account is an administrator, they can remove any parental control in minutes. Making their account a standard user is the foundation, and it is what makes protections like Vidward's tamper-proof setup actually stick.

If your child already has an account

On Windows 11:

1. 1
   Sign in to your own administrator account.
2. 2

   Open Settings, then Accounts, then Other users. If you added your child through Microsoft Family, their account lives under Accounts, then Family instead.

3. 3
   Select your child's account and choose Change account type.
4. 4
   Set Account type to Standard user and confirm with OK.

If you are creating a fresh account

1. 1

   Open Settings, then Accounts, then Other users, and choose Add account.

2. 2

   To make a simple local account, choose I don't have this person's sign-in information, then Add a user without a Microsoft account.

3. 3

   Pick a username (and a password if you want one). New local accounts are standard users by default, so there is nothing else to change.

If you prefer, a Microsoft Family child account is an alternative that also unlocks Microsoft's own screen-time and app-approval tools. Either way, the result to aim for is the same: the account your child actually uses must say Standard user.

Switch to your child's account

Creating the account does not sign you into it, so finish by opening it at least once:

1. 1

   Open the Start menu and click your account name or picture in the corner. Your child's account appears in the list.

2. 2

   Select it and enter the account password if you set one. The first sign-in takes a minute or two while Windows prepares the new profile.

3. 3

   Once you are in, set up the browser your child will use and link it to Vidward from this account. Rules protect the browser they actually browse in, so it matters that you do this here and not in your own account.

Day to day, the same Start menu list switches between accounts without closing anything, and the sign-in screen lists every account in its bottom left corner.

On Windows 10

The path is nearly identical: Settings, then Accounts, then Family & other users. Pick the account, choose Change account type, and set it to Standard User.

Check that it worked

• Open Settings, then Accounts, then Other users. Your child's account should show Standard user under their name.
• From their account, try to install any program. Windows should ask for your administrator password before continuing.

What this does not do

A standard account stops your rules from being undone, but it does not filter anything by itself. YouTube looks exactly the same from a standard account. For the content side, see how to block YouTube Shorts and how to block a YouTube channel, and lock the extension itself with the tamper-proof setup so the whole chain holds.