Roku Parental Controls: How to Set Parental Controls on Roku TV?

When it comes to Roku parental controls, there is a series of questions. Does Roku have parental controls? Can you put parental controls on Roku? How to set parental controls on Roku? A comprehensive explanation document is here to help you master parental controls on Roku.

Why Do We Need Parental Controls on Roku?

Roku is a highly-rated streaming device that boasts a vast of streaming platforms like Netflix, YouTube, Disney+, Hulu, etc. Owing to this, viewers can access numerous videos.

However, not all these videos are appropriate for young viewers as violence, sexual themes, and bad language in some videos usually misguide kids. To protect kids from bad content, the need for parental controls on Roku increases.

Does Roku Have Parental Controls?

If you can’t navigate around the TV screen because of the Roku remote scrolling or other remote issues, there are three ways for you to cancel your Roku subscription.

Method 1. Use a Remote App

Roku officials declared that the Roku streaming device does not have a traditional parental control system to restrict access to content across all streaming channels.

Hearing from the news, you may be confused – the Parental controls feature is indeed listed on others’ Roku settings menu from some screenshots, but no such feature is on your Roku streaming device.

The feature was available on Roku streaming devices, but it is a relic – Roku discontinued the feature within Roku settings in 2024. So, that’s not strange that your Roku streaming device doesn’t have the feature.

Can You Put Parental Controls on Roku?

While no parental controls feature is available on your Roku streaming device, Roku offers you another option you can adopt to prevent your kids from being exposed to unsafe content. You can set up a PIN (a four-digit code) that must be entered when someone tries watching content on your Roku streaming device.

How to Set Parental Controls on Roku?

As stated above, you can protect your kids from unsafe content by creating a PIN code, and the guide on how to put parental controls on Roku is below:

Step 1. Open a browser on your smartphone or web browser and log in to the Roku account page.

Step 2. On the account page, tap the Update button under PIN preference.

Step 3. Choose your PIN preferences from the Making purchases and adding content part. There are three options, and the first one, saying “Always require a PIN to make purchases and add items from the Channel Store“, is recommended to choose.

Step 4. If you choose to require a PIN but don’t have one yet, you’ll be asked to create one. Follow the on-screen instructions to create a PIN. It should be a four-digit code and make sure that your kids can’t guess it.

Step 5. After creation, this will return you to the dashboard from which tap the PIN/Parental Controls under Device settings.

Step 6. Scroll down until you see four age rating levels:

• Off: This setting allows all movies and TV shows to be played. You can choose the option when you want to give your kids the freedom to watch everything on your Roku streaming device.
• G, TV-Y, TV-G: Videos rated TV-Y means the content is designed for children up to the age of 6, while the TV-G rating means the videos are suitable for all ages.
• PG, TV-PG: Videos with these tags don’t contain adult material.
• PG-13, PG-14: Videos rated PG-13 or PG-14 usually have some sensitive material that is not suitable for children up to 13 or 14.

Step 7. Choose an age rating level from the four options according to your own needs and save your changes.

Are Your Kids Safe on Roku by Using a PIN?

Using a PIN can’t guarantee any chance of error. The much safer way is to remove channels that contain sensitive content from your Roku streaming device and set the PIN preference to “Always require a PIN to make purchases and add items from the Channel Store”.

Here is how to remove channels from Roku:

Note: If you want to experience the seamless control of your Roku with your smartphone, try the universal remote app for Roku streaming devices from BoostVision.

Step 1. Press the Home button on your Roku remote control or the remote app.

Step 2. Find the channel you want to delete on the home screen, highlight it, and press the * button on the remote control or the remote app.

Step 3. Choose the Remove app option from the pop-up menu.

After the removal, a PIN is required if someone try bringing the app back on your Roku streaming device.

Conclusion

Roku doesn’t have a parental controls feature, but you can prevent your kids from inappropriate content by creating a PIN code and choosing an age rating level through the Roku account page. This way is not perfect. For higher security, it is better to delete channels that contain unsafe content from your Roku streaming device and use a PIN to block others from re-adding them.

Roku Parental Controls FAQ

Q: Can I put parental controls on Roku?

Yes, you can go to your Roku account page where you need to choose “make purchases and add channels with PIN” and choose an age rating level from Parental Controls for The Roku Channel.

Q: Is there a way to block YouTube on Roku?

Yes, there are two ways to block YouTube on Roku:

• Delete YouTube from Roku and set PIN preference to “add apps with PIN”. In this way, someone who doesn’t know the PIN can’t download YouTube.
• Enable the parental controls feature from YouTube settings.