Forum Discussion
Family safety too restrictive for School, or off.
Hi all,
I have a question about MS family safety. In Family Safety, I have "Filter inappropriate websites and searches" set to "on" for my sons Win 11 laptop.
However, this is far too restrictive and on many occasions I need to grant him access to normal everyday school websites. For him this causes delays in class.
The only option is to turn of the feature allowing him to access any content.
Is there no middle ground? Just block obviously bad stuff but don't be too restrictive? Or only apply the filter outside of school hours?
This is not a workable solution like this, and I turned filtering off.
Btw, I'm not sure if this is the proper place to post this, but it was the only place I could find an "ask a question" button.
Best regards,
Freek
1 Reply
hi Freek You’ve raised a very common concern with Microsoft Family Safety. The current “Filter inappropriate websites and searches” setting is designed to be strict by default, which can unfortunately block legitimate educational sites. At the moment, there isn’t a true “middle ground” filter level (e.g., only block obviously harmful sites or apply filters only after school hours).
you can try below:
Whitelist school domains – In Family Safety, under Content Filters > Websites, you can add specific school websites or domains to the “Always allowed” list. This can help reduce interruptions.
Use per-device or per-time settings – While you can’t apply filters only during certain hours, you can create different profiles or adjust access rules depending on device use (e.g., school laptop vs. personal device).
Provide feedback to Microsoft – The Family Safety team actively reviews feature requests. You can submit feedback directly in the Family Safety app (Menu > Help & feedback > Give feedback) to request more granular filtering options.
Temporary bypasses – If a site is blocked during class, your child can request access, and you can approve it in real time from the Family Safety app. This doesn’t fully solve the delay issue, but it’s currently how the system is designed.
You’re not alone in finding the current filter too restrictive for school scenarios. For now, the best workaround is to pre-approve educational domains your child regularly uses and keep filters enabled outside school hours.
