In today’s digital world, teens spend hours scrolling through social media, and as a parent, it’s natural to be concerned. Instagram’s parental controls and Family Center tools give you peace of mind by allowing you to monitor your teen’s activity, manage screen time, and encourage healthy app habits—all while respecting their privacy.
In this guide, I’ll walk you through how to set up Instagram parental controls, what features are available, and how to use them effectively.
What Are Instagram’s Parental Control Features?
Instagram’s parental supervision tools are built into Meta’s Family Center, offering insights and management tools for connected apps like Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger.
Key features include:
- Daily time limits and scheduled breaks
- Notifications when your teen reports something
- Overview of accounts followed, blocked, and messaging activity (no access to message content)
- Privacy and content sensitivity settings overview
These tools are designed to strike a balance between safety and independence.
How Teen Accounts Work on Instagram
Instagram automatically applies extra safeguards to accounts of users aged 13–17:
- Teen accounts are private by default
- Messaging and tagging is restricted to mutual followers
- High sensitivity filters are on by default
- Teens need permission to go Live
- Sleep mode silences notifications between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.
What Parents Can See With Instagram Supervision
Once supervision is set up, you’ll be able to view:
| Supervision Feature | What Parents Can See |
|---|---|
| Messaging Activity | List of accounts messaged in the last 7 days (no content shown) |
| Follower/Following Lists | Who your teen follows and who follows them |
| Blocked Accounts | List of blocked profiles |
| Time Spent on Instagram | Daily and weekly usage insights |
| Reports Made | If your teen reports a post or profile |
| Change Requests | Notifications when teens request setting changes |
Requirements to Set Up Instagram Supervision
- You must be 18+ with your own Instagram account
- Your teen must be aged 13–17 and follow you on Instagram
- Both you and your teen need the latest Instagram version
- Supervision begins only after your teen accepts the invite
How to Set Up Instagram Parental Controls
- Open the Instagram app on your phone and go to your profile by tapping your picture in the bottom right.
- Tap the three horizontal lines in the top right corner to access settings.
- Scroll down and select Family Center.
- Tap Get Started to proceed.
- Select your teen’s account and tap Invite to send a supervision request.
- If you and your teen don’t follow each other on Instagram, tap share a link instead at the top.
- It’ll show an invite link and pop up the Share Sheet. Send the link to your teen via email or text.
Your teen will receive a notification to accept the invite which is only valid for 7 days. Once accepted, supervision is active, and you can adjust settings from the Family Center.
To resend the invite: Go to Family Center > Tap your teen’s name > Resend Invite.
How Teens Can Accept the Instagram Supervision Invite
Teens need to accept the supervision invite to enable parental controls. Here’s how they can do it:
- Open the Instagram app and check for a notification about the supervision invite.
- Tap the invite and review the details, which explain what parents can see and control.
- Scroll down and tap Allow to enable supervision or Decline invitation to reject it.
- If the invite was sent via email or text, click the link and follow the prompts to log into Instagram and accept.
Teens should talk to their parents before accepting to understand expectations. Supervision is automatically removed when the teen turns 18.
Monitor Your Teen’s Instagram Activity and Set Time Limits
The Family Center lets parents track their teen’s activity and manage screen time:
1. Monitor time spent
View the total time your teen has spent on Instagram in the last seven days from Family Center. Select your teen account and go to Their time spent.
To get a more detailed report, scroll to Time on Instagram. Here, you will see how much your teen has used the app each day of the past week.
2. Set daily time limits
Limit how long your teen can use Instagram each day. By default, Instagram shows a reminder to take a break after the teen has spent one hour across a day.
Go to Family Center, select your teen’s account, and tap Time management. Set a time under Daily limit and tap Save. Select between Remind teen to close Instagram (they can still use it after time reached) or Block teen from Instagram so they can’t access the app at all.
Your teen can request for additional time. To grant it, go to your teen account from Family Center, scroll down to Requests, and tap See request. Now, choose the amount of time you want to give or select Remove time limit for today. Finally, tap Approve request.
Now, your teen can use Instagram for the additional time limit throughout the day. Note that if you don’t approve the additional time request, it expires automatically at midnight.
3. Sleep mode
Mute Instagram notifications and remind users to close the app during specific hours or days of the week, like bedtime or study time. By default, it’s set from 22:00 to 7:00 every day.
To change it, access your teen account from Family Center, tap Time management, and select the preset time period or day under Sleep mode. Once done, tap Save.
These tools can help support healthy habits, but parents should set limitations with their teens to ensure they are just and reasonable.
How to Remove Instagram Supervision
Parents:
- From your profile, go to Settings > Family Center.
- Select your teen’s account and tap Remove supervision.
- Confirm the action. Your teen will be notified, and supervision will end.
Teens:
- Can request removal, which the parent must approve.
Tips for Parents to Build Trust and Ensure Safety
To make the most of Instagram’s parental controls and keep your teen safe:
- Discuss online safety with your teen, explaining why supervision is in place and encouraging them to share concerns.
- Review your teen’s activity in the Family Center weekly to stay informed about their interactions.
- Teach your teen to recognize harmful content, scams, or suspicious accounts and report them.
- If your teen uses Snapchat, YouTube, or TikTok, explore their parental controls for consistent supervision.
- Instagram’s features evolve, so check the Family Center for new tools or resources.
- Balance monitoring with trust to avoid making your teen feel overly controlled.
These steps foster a collaborative approach to online safety.
Keep Your Teen Safe With Instagram Supervision
Instagram’s parental controls offer a smart way to help your teen explore social media safely while building trust between you both. With features like time limits, privacy insights, and usage reports, you’re empowered to guide their experience without hovering.
Still have questions? Drop them in the comments—I’m here to help!
FAQs
No, but you can see who they’ve messaged in the past week.
Not without your approval. Supervision automatically ends at age 18.
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