How To Use Amazon Prime’s Parental Controls

Amazon Prime is one of the biggest subscription services in the U.S. While many people subscribe for the free shipping, it also comes with access to Amazon’s streaming service, Amazon Prime Video.

There are a lot of good kids’ shows on Amazon Prime, plus it does have slightly more robust parental controls than some other platforms. The only tradeoff is that they aren’t the most straightforward to set up. But not to worry, we’re going to walk you through how to set up parental controls so you can get the most out of your Amazon Prime subscription.

How to set up a Prime Video account PIN

To use the parental controls on Amazon Prime, you must first set up a PIN for your account. The account PIN works like the administrator password to your entire account, allowing you to do a number of things:

• Lock access to your profile.
• Bypass restrictions on any profile.
• Override PINs on other profiles.
• Restrict creation or deletion of profiles.

To set up your account PIN, follow these steps:

1. Open a browser and sign in to your Amazon Prime account.
2. Click on your profile picture in the top right corner of the browser.
3. Select Manage Profiles.
4. Click the Edit Profiles button and select the primary account holder’s profile.
5. Click the Manage button.
6. Find the option that reads Prime Video Account PIN and click Create.
7. Enter your new PIN and click Continue.

How to set up viewing restrictions

You can set up age-based viewing restrictions by following these steps:

1. Click on your profile picture in the top right corner of the browser.
2. Select Account & Settings.
3. Select the Permissions tab.
4. Scroll down to the Viewing Restrictions section and select the level of restrictions you want on your account.

Once you’ve selected the minimum age restrictions, any video with a higher rating will require the account PIN before you can watch it. This applies across all profiles, though you can choose which devices to apply the restrictions to. This means that, for example, if your kids always watch Amazon Prime on their iPads, you can apply viewing restrictions to just the iPads while allowing unrestricted access through web browsers and the living room TV.

The bottom line: Amazon parental controls are flexible, if a bit unwieldy

Amazon Prime Video’s PIN system adds some extra steps, but it can be remarkably flexible once you get the hang of it. As long as you remember your PIN, you can always watch or buy anything you want on any device with only a slight inconvenience. Just make sure that your kids don’t memorize your PIN as well, or you might find eleven seasons of Paw Patrol charged to your account.

As with most parental controls, the system still revolves around age-based content filters, which is not ideal. Age restrictions assume that all content exists on a linear spectrum from most to least appropriate. So you can’t, for example, restrict an obnoxious kids’ show without also blocking educational content geared toward older groups.

The nice thing about the account PIN is that as long as you’re around to enter the PIN for them, restrictions are easy to bypass if an appropriate show gets accidentally blocked. And if different people in your household use different devices, you can streamline the process even more by only restricting the ones that kids will be using.

So while Amazon Prime Video still doesn’t give parents the most granular controls, it does give them more control than most. And with a bit of finesse, it can become a pretty flexible way to manage what your kids watch online.

Related content

• The Right Speed for Amazon Prime Video
• Netflix vs. Amazon Prime Video
• Best TV and Internet Bundles
• When Will Amazon Leo Be Available?