Filter
Report inappropriate SafeSearch results
If you come across a result on SafeSearch that is mature, please report it to us—we’re always working to improve our content filters, and this kind of feedback helps us make SafeSearch safer for everyone.
Click the inappropriate image that you see in search results to open a page with more options
Click Send feedback in the bottom right corner of the image result panel.
Flag questionable content
Our policy specialists work around the clock to help keep you and your family safe on YouTube. If you see content or behavior that you think violates the YouTube Community Guidelines, you can flag it for review. If a video violates our guidelines, it gets removed from the site. If it doesn’t violate the Guidelines but might not be appropriate for everyone, the video may be age-restricted, so younger users aren’t able to view it.
To flag a video, click on the “Flag” button below the video player.
Click on the reason for flagging that best fits the violation within the video.
Provide any additional details that may help the review team make their decision.
Flagging videos is anonymous, but you do need to be logged in to use flagging tools.
To learn how to flag a comment or channel, please visit the Help Center.
Report offensive content
If someone makes an inappropriate comment or post on Google+, you can report it—even from a mobile device. Google+ has clear Content Policies that explain what is and isn't appropriate to do on the site, so if you see content or behavior that violates our policy, you can flag it for review. We review flagged content around the clock, and we may remove content and limit or shut down accounts of users who violate our policies.
To report a post, click the arrow in the upper right of the post. Then click Report Spam or Abuse.
In the pop-up window that appears, you can identify why you're reporting the post.
Once you’re done, a red flag will appear next to the post. To undo the report, click the red flag.
To report a comment, hover over the comment and click on the gray flag that appears.
Keep Hangouts safe for everyone
We want Hangouts to be fun for everyone. If you see content or behavior that violates the Google+ Content and Conduct Policy, you can flag it for review. These policies play an important part in keeping Google+ a safe and positive place, so we may remove content and limit or shut down accounts of users who violate our policies. You can also block a Hangout user if you no longer want to see or hear them.
To block a Hangout user, hover over the person's video thumbnail.
Click the ignore icon.
To permanently block a Hangout user, check the box next to "Permanently delete" and then select Done.
Help keep the blogosphere safe for all
There are clear guidelines about what kinds of content can be posted on Blogger. If you see content that violates the Blogger Content Policy, you can flag it for review. Anything that violates our policies will be removed, and we'll place a warning page in front of content that doesn't violate our policies but might not be appropriate for all audiences.
To report content, visit the help article here.
At the bottom of the page, select the abuse type to access the relevant contact form.
Complete the information requested, and then click “submit”.
If you're on a blog that you'd like to report, click the “more” drop down at the top of the page.
Then click “Report Abuse” and follow the steps to alert Blogger about content on that page.
Use Parental controls to filter apps by content rating
You can use Parental controls to restrict the content that can be downloaded or purchased on Google Play. This helps you find appropriate content for you and your family.
Open the Play Store app on your device.
In the top left corner, tap the Menu icon.
Tap Settings.
Tap Parental controls.
Turn Parental controls On.
Create a PIN.
Touch Apps & Games.
Choose the maturity level.
Set it and forget it. Keep Safety Mode locked
If you want to keep Safety Mode on permanently, you can lock it. Then every time you access YouTube from that browser, you'll automatically be signed in to Safety Mode.
Select the On or Off option to enable or disable Safety Mode.
To lock this setting, sign in to your Google Account.
Once you're signed in, you will have the option to lock this setting.
Set a filter to keep inappropriate content out
If you’d prefer to not to see mature or age-restricted content as you browse YouTube, scroll to the bottom of any YouTube page and enable Safety Mode. Safety Mode helps filter out potentially objectionable content from search, related videos, playlists, shows, and films.
Scroll to the bottom of any YouTube page and click the drop-down menu in the “Safety” section.
Select the On or Off option to enable or disable Safety Mode.
To lock this setting, sign in to your Google Account.
Once you're signed in, you will have the option to lock this setting.
Get family-friendly results from Search
By enabling SafeSearch, you can filter out most of the mature content that you or your family may prefer to avoid. If an inappropriate result does sneak through, you can report it to Google. We're always working to improve our content filters, and this kind of feedback can help us make SafeSearch better for everyone.
Visit the Search Settings page at www.google.com/preferences.
Check the box next to “Filter explicit results”.
Hit the “save” button at the bottom of the page.
You can click “Lock SafeSearch” to help prevent others from changing your setting. You will be asked to enter your password.
Prevent accidental or unwanted purchases
You can help prevent accidental purchases made on Google Play by requiring certain information be entered to make a purchase, like a password.
Open the Play Store app on your device.
In the top left corner, tap the Menu icon.
Tap Settings.
Tap Require authentication for purchases.
Select the option that’s best for you. If you’re a parent or plan on sharing your device, we recommend For all purchases through Google Play on this device.
Manage YouTube Comments
If someone is making comments that you don't like on your videos or Channel, you can block them on YouTube. This means they won't be able to comment on your stuff or send you private messages.
To block someone on YouTube, visit their Channel page, which should have a URL similar to www.youtube.com/user/NAME.
On their “About” tab, click the flag icon.
Lastly, click block user.
Share videos with just the right audience
Whether you want to keep a video private, share it with a few friends, or release it to the world, there’s a privacy setting for you. On YouTube, videos are set to “Public” by default, but you can easily change the settings in “Privacy Settings” while you’re uploading the video. If you change your mind later, you can change the privacy of an already-uploaded video.
To change Privacy Settings, visit your Video Manager.
Find the video you’d like to change, then click the Edit button.
Go to the “Privacy Settings” drop-down menu.
Pick Public to share with everyone, Unlisted to share with users who have a link to the video, or Private to share with specific users.
Click Save changes.
Control the chatter about your videos
It’s easy to moderate the comments on your YouTube channel. You can choose to delete comments, or to hold comments from certain people or with certain keywords from being published before you review them.
To moderate comments, click the arrow in the upper right of a comment to see your options.
Click Remove to take down the comment from YouTube.
Or, click Ban from channel to block the user from posting comments on videos and your channel.
In Comment Settings, you can require approval for all new comments before they’re posted or you can disable comments.
Comment Settings allows you set filters for who can comment on your channel. You can also block comments with certain words.
Stop unwanted comments or tags
If you’d rather not see someone’s posts on Google+, you can block them by going to their profile and selecting Report/block [person’s name]. You can also mute specific posts to no longer see them in your stream.
To block someone on desktop, go to their profile.
On the side of the profile click Report/block [person’s name].
Confirm that you want to block that person.
Choose whose updates you see in your stream
What if someone adds you to their circles, but you're not interested in interacting with them? If you don’t want to block them, you can mute them instead. If you mute a user, you will no longer receive notifications from them or their page.
Open Google+.
Go to someone’s profile/page.
Click the arrow below their profile photo and info.
Select “Mute [person/page]”.
Limit access to just approved apps and games
Want to share your tablet without sharing all your stuff? On Android tablets running 4.3 and higher, you can create restricted profiles that limit the access that other users have to features and content on your tablet.
If you’re the tablet owner, touch Settings → Users → Add user or profile.
Touch Restricted profile → New profile, then name the profile.
Use the ON/OFF switches and settings to manage access to features, settings, and apps.
Press the Power button to return to the lock screen, then touch the new profile icon.
Once it's all set up, the Home screen is empty. Touch the All Apps icon to get started with the new profile.
Control what your family sees on the Web
If you want to control which sites your family can visit on the Internet you can use Supervised Users in Google Chrome. With Supervised Users you can see the pages your user has visited and block the sites you don't want your user to see.
To set up a supervised user on your Chromebook, start on the main sign-in screen and click Add user.
On the right hand side of the screen, select Create a supervised user.
Click Create a supervised user.
Log in to the account that will manage the supervised user and click Next.
Select a username, password, and picture for the supervised user. Click Next.
Make your Google Account even more secure
You can add an extra layer of security to your Google Account by enabling 2-step verification. If you have 2-step verification turned on, Google will send a passcode to your mobile phone when someone tries to sign into your account from an unfamiliar computer. This means that if someone steals or guesses your password, the potential attacker still can’t sign in to your account because they don’t have your phone. Now you can protect yourself with something you know (your password) and something you have (your phone).
Access your settings by clicking your name or picture in the right corner then clicking Account.
At the top, click Security. In the Password box, click Setup next to “2-Step verification.”
You will then see a step-by-step guide which will help you through the setup process.
You’ll then be taken back to 2-step verification settings. Review your settings and add backup phone numbers.
You’re done! Next time you sign in, you’ll receive an SMS with a verification code.
Keep prying eyes off your device
If you don’t want anyone who picks up your phone or tablet to have access to your stuff, you can set a screen lock on your phone or tablet. You can pick a PIN, a password, or a pattern, and even lock the phone with your face!
On your device, go to Settings → Personal → Security → Screen lock.
Touch the type of lock you want and follow the onscreen instructions.
Locate your device remotely, even if it's lost or stolen
With Android Device Manager, you can remotely locate, ring, or wipe your Android device if it's ever lost or stolen. When you enable this feature on your device, you can locate your phone or tablet on a map, delete your data remotely, or call your phone to make it easier to find.
Open Google Settings from the apps menu, then touch Security.
Under "Android Device Manager”, you can turn on “Remotely locate this device” and/or “Allow remote lock and erase.”
To find your device, sign into Android Device Manager.
Select: Ring your device; Lock your device with a new password; Erase all of your data.
Browse the web in private
You can use Incognito Mode in the Chrome browser on your computer, tablet, or phone to browse the web privately. In Incognito Mode, the pages you visit and files you download aren’t recorded in Chrome’s browsing or download history.
Click the Chrome menu on the browser toolbar → Click New Incognito Window.
A new window will open with the incognito icon in the corner. To exit, simply close the window.
Your Google Account, your way
On your Account settings page, you can see services and information associated with your Google Account and change your security and privacy settings.
Access settings by clicking your name or picture in the right corner, then clicking Account.
Manage the data stored in your Google Account
Google Dashboard shows you what's stored in your Google Account and provides an overview of some of your recent account activity. From one central location, you can easily view your data and activity and access your settings for services such as Blogger, Calendar, Docs, Google+ and more.
Visit Dashboard to see a summary of the data associated with your Google Account and manage your personal settings.
From here, see and manage data stored in your Google Account.
Get an alert if your name appears on the web
Me on the Web can help you understand and manage what people see when they search for you on Google. It helps you set up Google Alerts so you can monitor if information about you appears online, and it automatically suggests some search terms you may want to keep an eye on.
Sign in to your Google Account and navigate to the “Me on the Web” section.
Click Manage my Web Alerts, and then click the red button to create an alert.
Your name will show up in the text field. Click the text field to view more suggested alerts.
Click Add to add an alert. Click the pencil icon to make edits, and the trash can icon to delete.
In the “How often” drop-down, choose the frequency of alerts.
Share posts and photos with the right people
Share the right things with with the right people using Google+ circles. For example, you can create a circle for your friends, one for your family, and another for your boss. That way, when you share updates, it's easy to choose who can see your posts.
Enjoy private conversations with people in your circles
Hangouts are a fun, safe way to connect with your family and friends. Send messages, share photos, and make video calls with anyone in the world, no plane tickets required. You can make your Hangouts public or private, and we have built several features to ensure your conversations are private when that's what you choose.
Hangouts lets you send messages, photos, emoji, and make video calls with your friends and family. Learn more about Hangouts here.
Your data, to go
Google Takeout is a super-simple way to download your data from the Google products you use, like Drive documents, Gmail messages, or YouTube videos. Use it to make backups, upload your information to another service, or print it out for wallpaper -- it's your choice!
Click Create an Archive.
Select the Google products to include in your archive.
Click create archive.
Private screening or world premiere? Your call
Sometimes you might want to share your YouTube videos with just a small group of friends or even keep them to yourself. If so, you can choose to make your video either "unlisted" (hidden from search results, but viewable by people with the link) or "private" (viewable only by you) when you upload your video. When you upload a video, by default it’s set as a “Public” video, which means that anybody can view it.
Visit your Video Manager.
Find the video you’d like to change, then click the Edit button.
In the “Privacy Settings” drop-down menu, select Public, Unlisted, or, Private.
Click Save changes.
Manage how your data is shared
Many of the websites you visit use Google Analytics to generate anonymous reports about visitors, which website owners use to improve their sites. If you don't want your browser data to be shared in this way, you can install an opt-out.
Visit the Google Analytics opt-out page and install the add-on for your browser.
See where you’ve been
If you’re signed in to a Google Account, Web History helps provide you with more relevant results and recommendations. If you choose, you can delete entries, pause collection or turn off the service altogether. You can do the same with YouTube History.
Sign in to your Google Account and visit https://www.google.com/history.
From here, you can manage your preferences for your Google Web History.
Manage your ads preferences
Ads Settings helps you control the ads you see on Google. Learn how ads are selected for you, control the information you share, and block specific advertisers.
Access Ads Settings by visiting www.google.com/settings/ads.
From here, you can adjust settings, find out why you may see particular ads or remove unwanted ads.
Share your Chromebook with a friend
You can share your Chromebook with friends and family, even if they don't have a Google Account. By using the guest browsing feature, you can let them borrow your Chromebook and keep your own account information safe and secure.
To start a guest browsing session, select Browse as Guest from the launcher.
To end a guest browsing session, select Exit guest to end your guest session.
Clear your browsing history
If you use Chrome as your browser, it's easy to delete some or all of your browsing history—and if you're signed into Chrome on multiple devices, deleting your browsing history will take effect across all of them.
To clear your browser History, click the Chrome menu icon on the browser toolbar.
Select More Tools, then select Clear browsing data.
In the dialog that appears, select the “Clear browsing history” checkbox.
Use the menu at the top to select the amount of data you want to delete.
Control information that is sent to Google
Some of Chrome’s browser options use your information, such as the websites you visit, to enhance and protect your online experience. If don't want to send browsing data to Google you can turn off certain features in Chrome.
To adjust Chrome Privacy Settings click the Chrome menu icon → Settings → Show advanced settings → look under the Privacy section.
Uncheck any privacy settings you no longer want. When you turn a privacy setting off, that information will not be sent to Google.
Report inappropriate apps
You can report malicious or inappropriate apps you find in the Play Store app.
Open the Play Store app on your device.
Open the app's details page.
At the bottom of the page, tap Flag as inappropriate.
Select the reason you thought the app was inappropriate.
Tap Submit.
Check an app's content rating
Apps and games in the Play Store have a content rating. You can check the maturity level of an app or game before downloading it to make sure it's appropriate for you and your family.
Open the Play Store app on your device.
Open the app's details page and find the rating under the app’s name.
Touch Read More for more detailed information.
Scroll down for more information on content descriptors and interactive features.
Find family-friendly content in Google Play
With the Family sections on Google Play, it's easy to find family-friendly content from trusted brands. This includes content for your kid's favorite characters, and content that you can filter by age group.
Open the Play Store app on your device.
Select Apps, Games, Movies & TV, or Books.
Choose Family or Children's Books.
From here, you can also browse content by age level or popular characters.
Look for the age badge to understand what ages the content is appropriate for.