Windows family loss of control of user

Question

Windows family loss of control of user

Susanne SVENSDOTTER 40

I am the Family Safety administrator for my son's computer. He is set as standard user on his PC (Windows 11, Microsoft 365 Family account).

Since some time I have lost the connection to my son's computer via Family Safety. The time limit settings no longer work and in the time reports I am informed that he has used zero time. I can see him use the computer.

How do I regain the control functions?

I have had long discussions with some Microsoft AI tool and I get no useful answers from it at all.

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Answer accepted by question author

Norah-L 10,490 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hello Susanne SVENSDOTTER

I understand that you’re the Family Safety administrator for your son’s Windows 11 PC, but screen time tracking and limits are no longer working even though he is still using the device.

On his PC, go to Settings > Accounts > Your info and complete any Verify or Fix account prompt for both the parent and child accounts, if shown. You can also verify the child’s account through Microsoft Edge using the Family verification page: https://aka.ms/familyverify

Also, sign in with the administrator account and check Settings > Privacy & security > Diagnostics & feedback. Make sure Send optional diagnostic data is turned on, as Family Safety reporting may not work correctly when this is disabled.

Another thing to check is the service. Press Windows + R, type services.msc and press Enter. Find Parental Controls, open Properties, and make sure it is not disabled. If needed, set it to Automatic or Delayed Start, then select Start. If it is already enabled, you can try disabling it briefly, apply the change, then enable it again and start the service to refresh it.

After making these changes, sign out of the child’s Windows account, restart the PC, then sign back in. If Family Safety still does not work, remove the screen time limits and add the limits back. Also make sure Activity reporting is still turned on.

Hope this helps. Please let me know how it goes after trying these steps!

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Norah-L 10,490 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-06-18T08:37:19.13+00:00

Hello Susanne

Just checking in to see if you’ve had a chance to try the suggested steps.

Please feel free to share any updates.
Susanne SVENSDOTTER 40 Reputation points

2026-08-25T09:13:03.36+00:00

I have followed all these steps and they did not correct the synchronisation problem.

I thereafter removed him from the family group, and then reinstalled him.

This did not work either. The synchronisation is still off, i.e. I do not get any information on his PC use and the set time limits do not work.

I do not know what to do now.
Norah-L 10,490 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-08-26T04:27:11.63+00:00
Dear Susanne,

Thank you for the update. Since you have already tried the usual troubleshooting steps, including removing and re-adding your son to the Family group but the issue still remains, I recommend contacting Microsoft Support so they can review the Family Safety configuration and account synchronization on their side.

As this is a user-to-user forum, we can only suggest troubleshooting steps based on available information and do not have access to Family Safety account data or synchronization logs.

You can contact Microsoft Support Team by following the steps below:

Go to: https://support.microsoft.com/home/contact

In the search box, enter a short description of your issue. Select "Get Help"

Scroll down and select Sign in to contact support (please sign in using a personal Microsoft account). Then follow the on-screen prompts to reach Support Team.

Tip: Support chat availability may vary by country/region, product, and support hours. If you can't get in touch with a chat agent right away, trying again later or at a different time may help.

Hopefully this issue will be resolved soon. Thank you so much for your patience!

Best regards.

2 additional answers

Your answer

Norah-L 10,490 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-06-18T08:37:19.13+00:00

Hello Susanne

Just checking in to see if you’ve had a chance to try the suggested steps.

Please feel free to share any updates.
Susanne SVENSDOTTER 40 Reputation points

2026-08-25T09:13:03.36+00:00

I have followed all these steps and they did not correct the synchronisation problem.

I thereafter removed him from the family group, and then reinstalled him.

This did not work either. The synchronisation is still off, i.e. I do not get any information on his PC use and the set time limits do not work.

I do not know what to do now.
Norah-L 10,490 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-08-26T04:27:11.63+00:00

Dear Susanne,

Thank you for the update. Since you have already tried the usual troubleshooting steps, including removing and re-adding your son to the Family group but the issue still remains, I recommend contacting Microsoft Support so they can review the Family Safety configuration and account synchronization on their side.

As this is a user-to-user forum, we can only suggest troubleshooting steps based on available information and do not have access to Family Safety account data or synchronization logs.

You can contact Microsoft Support Team by following the steps below:

Go to: https://support.microsoft.com/home/contact

In the search box, enter a short description of your issue. Select "Get Help"

Scroll down and select Sign in to contact support (please sign in using a personal Microsoft account). Then follow the on-screen prompts to reach Support Team.

Tip: Support chat availability may vary by country/region, product, and support hours. If you can't get in touch with a chat agent right away, trying again later or at a different time may help.

Hopefully this issue will be resolved soon. Thank you so much for your patience!

Best regards.

Answer 1

Susanne SVENSDOTTER 40

I have now tried the proposed solutions. They did not work.

I have also removed my son from the family group and reinvited him, making sure that all settings for time control were OK. It still does not work. His PC does not synchronise, I do not get any information on his screen time and the time settings are not received by his PC.

I have the additional problem that he uses his PC at school during daytime, so I cannot connect to help services because I do not have the computer in front of me.

Norah-L 10,490 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-09-06T07:58:07.3233333+00:00

Hi Susanne,

Thank you for the update.

If possible, when your son next has access to the PC, please also ask him to open the Family Safety app or website and confirm that he is signed in with the correct Microsoft account and that the device is connected to the internet.

Regarding Microsoft Support, I understand that you do not have access to the PC during the day because your son uses it at school. You can still contact Support from your own device and explain that the Family Safety administrator account is not receiving activity reports or screen time synchronization from the child's PC. They may be able to review the Family Safety account configuration and advise what information they need from the device before a troubleshooting session is required.

Answer 2

Susanne SVENSDOTTER 40

I have not had the time and opportunity to try fixing it yet.

Norah-L 10,490 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-06-19T08:14:13.6666667+00:00

Hi Susanne

Feel free to post back anytime at your convenience.