BT Parental Controls Setup Guide
A step-by-step guide to setting up BT Parental Controls and BT Family Protect on your BT Broadband connection to keep your children safer online.
Overview
BT is the UK's largest broadband provider, and it includes two free tools to help families manage what children can access online: BT Parental Controls, which filter content at the network level, and BT Family Protect, which adds malware and phishing protection. Both are free for BT Broadband customers and can be managed through the My BT app or the bt.com/mybt web portal without any technical expertise.
How to Enable BT Parental Controls
Log in to the My BT app on your smartphone or visit bt.com/mybt in a browser. Go to 'My Package' and select 'BT Parental Controls'. Toggle the feature on. If you are setting up for the first time, you will be prompted to create a PIN that prevents your child from disabling the controls. Changes take effect within a few minutes across all devices connected to your BT Broadband.
BT Parental Controls can be switched on in minutes through the My BT app or bt.com/mybt — no router login required.
Choosing a Content Filtering Level
BT Parental Controls offers three preset filtering levels: Light (blocks illegal content only), Moderate (blocks adult, gambling, and violent content), and Strict (blocks all adult content plus social media and online gaming). For most families with younger children, Moderate or Strict is recommended. You can change the level at any time through the My BT app.
Choose Moderate or Strict filtering for children under 13 — you can always relax the level as they grow older.
Custom Site Blocking
As well as the preset levels, you can block or allow specific websites manually. In the My BT app, go to Parental Controls and select 'Manage blocked and allowed sites'. Enter the website address you want to block or allow. This is useful for blocking a site your child has found that is not covered by the preset filters, or for allowing a site that has been incorrectly blocked.
Custom blocking lets you add or remove individual sites on top of the preset filtering level.
Setting Internet Access Schedules
BT Parental Controls includes a scheduling feature that lets you set times when internet access is switched off. This is ideal for enforcing bedtime rules or ensuring your children are not online during homework hours. In the My BT app, go to Parental Controls and select 'Manage schedule'. You can set different schedules for weekdays and weekends.
Use the schedule feature to automatically cut off internet access at bedtime — it removes the nightly argument over screen time.
SafeSearch and BT Family Protect
BT Parental Controls can enforce SafeSearch on Google, Bing, and YouTube, preventing explicit results from appearing even if your child changes their browser settings. Separately, BT Family Protect (also free) adds a layer of malware and phishing protection, blocking dangerous websites before they load. Both features are managed from the same section of the My BT app. For guest Wi-Fi, note that parental controls apply to the main network only — consider disabling your guest network if young children are in the house.
Enable both BT Parental Controls and BT Family Protect for the strongest protection — they work at the network level across every device.
This is practical educational content to support families. For case-specific concerns about a child's safety, contact the NSPCC helpline on 0808 800 5000 or your local safeguarding team.
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Last reviewed: 2026-04-08