Set up parental controls on your TV

You can switch the Family Setting on, which removes adult channels and content and requires your PIN to be entered for any purchases, interactive purchases and pre-watershed playback.

Please note: The Family Setting only restricts playback on Sky Cinema before 9pm and may not apply to programmes that you’ve recorded.

The Family Setting will be on by default for new customers, but if all settings in the tab are turned off it'll revert to off. If only some of the settings have been turned on, the Family Setting will show as custom.

To turn the Family Setting on or off:

1. Press services on your Sky remote.
2. Highlight Parental Control & PIN, and press select.
3. Enter your Sky TV PIN, and press select to enter the Family menu.
4. Press the left/right arrow buttons to turn Family Setting OFF or ON.
5. To turn some of the individual settings on or off, scroll down to the setting you want to change and press the left/right arrow buttons to choose.
6. Press the green button to save your settings.

For older Sky+ HD boxes, where there's no Family Setting option, here's how to turn on or off all adult channels:

1. Press services on your Sky remote.
2. Highlight Parental, and press select.
3. Enter your Sky TV PIN.
4. Highlight Adult Chnls, and press select.
5. Press the left/right arrow buttons to turn adult channels off or on.
6. Press the green button to save your settings.

Once turned off, adult channels will no longer be displayed in the TV Guide and will not be accessible even by typing the channel number.

To restrict access to one or more specific channel(s):

1. Press services on your Sky remote.
2. Highlight Parental Control & PIN, and press select.
3. Enter your Sky TV PIN.
4. Highlight Channel, and press select. A list of all channels will now be displayed.
5. Highlight the channel you'd like to restrict, using the arrow buttonsor by typing in the channel number, and press the yellow button to lock the channel at all times of day or the blue button to lock the channel only after 8pm.
6. A padlock symbol will appear next to channels locked with the yellow button. An 8pm symbol will appear next to channels locked with the blue button. Press the yellow or blue buttons again to turn off the locks.
7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 for other channels you'd like to restrict.
8. Press the green button to save your settings.

When you try to view a locked channel, you'll be shown a blue screen and prompted for your Sky TV PIN.

To apply restrictions based on the age certification of a programme:

1. Press services on your Sky remote.
2. Highlight Parental, and press select.
3. Enter your Sky TV PIN.
4. Highlight Ratings, and press select.
5. Press the up/down arrow buttons to choose the level at which restrictions should be applied, and then press the red button to restrict this and all higher certifications. Press the red button again to remove this restriction.
6. Press the green button to save your settings.

Sky Cinema trailers aren't certificated, which means they're suitable for all viewers, even if the movie itself isn't. For example, movies rated 18 will have a trailer that's suitable for all viewers.

Please note: Programmes without a certification will not be subject to this restriction, so this isn't a foolproof way of protecting younger viewers.

Other options to help you restrict access to programmes and services include:

• PIN Protect Kept Programmes: Avoid accidentally deleting important programmes from your Planner.
• Share what's on this box: Stop compatible Sky applications on the same network from accessing your Sky box.
• Display photos sent to this box: Stop photo sharing via the Snapshots feature of the Sky+ app.

These are accessible through the Other tab in the Parental Control & PIN section of the Services homepage.

You can set up your Sky box to require a PIN when making a Sky Store or Box Office rental over a certain limit. Remember, you'll always need your PIN to make a Buy & Keep purchase.

To turn this setting on:

1. Press services on your Sky remote, select Parental Control and PIN and enter your 4-digit PIN at the prompt.
2. Highlight PIN Required for Purchases, then set the puchase limit before your PIN is required. This could be Always, Over £1.00, Over £2.00, Over £3.00, Over £4.00, Over £5.00, Over £10.00 or Over £20.00 (or the euro equivalent).
3. If you don't require a PIN, switch it off by selecting NO.
4. Press green to save the setting, then sky to return to your viewing.

If you want to PIN-restrict interactive purchases:

1. Press services on your Sky remote, select Parental Control and PIN and enter your 4-digit PIN at the prompt.
2. Highlight PIN Required for Interactive Purchases and change the setting to YES or NO to turn it on or off.
3. Press green to save the setting, then sky to return to your viewing.

To turn PIN protection on or off for pre-watershed shows:

1. Press Services on your Sky remote and select Parental Control & Pin.
2. Enter your Sky TV PIN.
3. Select Family, then PIN on pre-watershed playback.
4. Select On to PIN-protect rated shows before the watershed, or Off to remove the need for a PIN.
5. Press Green to save.

Shows with no age rating won't be blocked. 

Good to know: Even if you turn this setting off, you'll still need to enter your PIN if you're watching a Sky Cinema movie, recording or download before its normal watershed time (before 8pm for shows or movies rated 12 or 15, or before 9pm for those rated 18). This is due to Ofcom regulations.

Additionally, some shows from Sky (Sky Atlantic, Sky Comedy, Sky Documentaries), BBC and Channel 4 (including E4) may ask for a PIN during the daytime and in the evening, this is down to the broadcaster’s own content review and if they deem it to be of an adult nature.