Keeping your family safe online

The holidays are here again and with the kids out of school, this is a great time for families to explore the web together — from learning what makes fireflies glow to playing online games together. But, while there is a lot of entertaining and educational content online, there are so many materials that I’d rather not see when I’m surfing the web with my family.

Google has built a number of tools that parents can use to help keep the content they would rather not see from popping up on the family computer. It takes less than five minutes to turn them on. So, follow the steps below to help make your search results more family-friendly this summer.

Turn on Safe-Search in Google Search

 Turning on Safe-Search is an easy way to help you hide images, search results and videos intended just for adult consumption. It is particularly helpful if you’re concerned about the content that might pop up on your family computer, and it is easy to turn on. Just visit the Google Search Settings page, go to the ‘Safe-Search filters’ section, and check the box to filter mature content from Google Search result pages. These preferences will apply for any searches done using that browser on your computer. If you have multiple browsers on your family computer, you might want to turn Safe-Search on for each one.

You can turn Safe-Search on or off from the Search Settings page

Save and lock your preferences

As soon as you have set your preferences, make sure you click the ‘Save’ button at the bottom of the page. And if you’re signed in to your Google Account, you can also lock the Safe-Search filter so that other people can’t change your preferences—just click “Lock SafeSearch.”

 Now the setting is protected with your Google Account password. While no filter is 100 per cent perfect, with Safe-Search on you can feel more confident browsing the web with your family.

Turn on YouTube safety mode

The YouTube Safety Mode helps you and your family to avoid videos that might be OK with Google’s Community Guidelines, but you may not want to pop up on your family computer. Turning on Safety Mode in YouTube takes just one step. Scroll down to the bottom of any YouTube page and click on the button that says ‘Safety’ at the bottom of the page—now you can choose your preferences for Safety Mode.

Click the button that says ‘Safety’ at the bottom of any YouTube page, and then choose your preferences

Lock your Safety mode preferences

Just like with Safe-Search, you can also log in with your Google Account and lock the YouTube Safety Mode on each of your computer’s browsers. It will filter videos with mature content, so they won’t show up in video search results, related videos, playlists, shows or films. The YouTube Safety Mode will also help hide objectionable comments.

Turn on Safe-Search on mobile

Safe-Search is available on your phone or other mobile devices, as well as the web. You can turn on Safe-Search for Google on your mobile device by opening your phone’s browser and visiting google.com/preferences. Scroll to the Safe-Search Filters section to select what level of filtering you would like to enable. Be sure to tap ‘Save Preferences’ after you’ve made your selection.

To enable Safe-Search on YouTube’s mobile app, first open your settings, then press ‘Search.’ From there, select “Safe-Search Filtering” and select moderate or strict filtering.

Helping families have a positive and safe experience with Google is important and that is why the search giant has partnered with parents and experts on free and easy to use tools and resources to help your family stay safe and secure when browsing online. If you’re interested more tools and tips, please see Google’s Good to Know site, and stay tuned for more security tips throughout the summer.