If I do not want to use family restrictions at all, do I need to upgrade the subscription? I need to be free flowing.
Disabling the family security
How can I disable the family permission option? ....
Windows for home | Windows 11 | Family and online safety
3 answers
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Vikki-T 11,350 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
2026-06-04T06:32:27.2933333+00:00 Hi BRIAN WISE,
I understand wanting to use your Windows 11 device freely without Family Safety prompts or permission requests getting in the way.
You should not need to upgrade your subscription just to turn off Family restrictions. These settings are usually managed through the Microsoft Family Safety group, not through a paid Windows or Microsoft 365 upgrade. If your account is part of a family group, the restrictions may need to be changed or removed by the family organizer.
To narrow this down, could you please check:
- Are you signed in with a Microsoft account that is listed in a Family group at Microsoft Family Safety?
- Is your account shown as an organizer/adult account, or as a member/child account?
- Where do you see the permission request, when opening an app, visiting a website, playing a game, or inside Windows Security?
In the meantime, you can try these steps:
- Go to Microsoft Family Safety and sign in with the Microsoft account used on the PC.
- If you are the organizer, review the family member settings and turn off the restrictions you no longer want, such as app/game limits, web filters, or screen time limits.
- If you do not want to use Family Safety at all, the organizer can remove the account from the family group. Please note that removing someone from a family group may also remove access to shared family benefits, such as shared Microsoft 365 Family benefits if those were being used.
If your account is set as a child/member account, you may not be able to remove those restrictions yourself. In that case, the family organizer would need to adjust the settings or remove your account from the family group.
While my initial response may not fully resolve the issue, I truly appreciate your cooperation as we work together toward identifying the most effective solution. Thank you so much for your understanding.
Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.
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AI answer
2026-06-03T13:51:45.27+00:00 For Windows 11 home use, there are two main “family” areas that can be disabled or hidden: Microsoft Family Safety controls on the account, and the Family options section in Windows Security.
- If Family Safety restrictions are applied to the account
- Go to https://account.microsoft.com/family and sign in.
- If the account is in a family group:
- An organizer can turn off activity reporting and other limits:
- Organizer signs in at https://account.microsoft.com/family/home/settings.
- Selects the member’s name.
- Turns off the Activity reporting toggles on each device platform tab.
- If privacy or full removal is needed, the organizer can remove the member from the family group:
- Organizer signs in at https://account.microsoft.com/family.
- Selects the person’s name.
- Chooses Remove consent for this child's account if shown, then Remove from family group.
- An organizer can turn off activity reporting and other limits:
- If the account is an adult but is being treated as a child, update the birth date as described under I'm an adult, but Microsoft thinks I'm a child in How to change a birth date on a Microsoft account.
- If Family Safety restrictions remain after leaving/removal
- Run the Family Safety reset task on each affected Windows device:
- Press Windows + R.
- Type
cmdand select OK. - In the Command Prompt, run:
schtasks /run /tn "Microsoft\Windows\Shell\FamilySafetyRefreshTask" - Restart the PC.
- Run the Family Safety reset task on each affected Windows device:
- If the goal is only to hide the Family options section in Windows Security (on managed/Pro devices)
- Using Group Policy (Windows 10/11 Pro or managed environment):
- Open Group Policy Management Editor for the target GPO.
- Go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows components > Windows Security > Family options.
- Open Hide the Family options area and set it to Enabled.
- Apply and deploy the GPO.
- Using MDM/Intune with the Policy CSP:
- Set
./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/WindowsDefenderSecurityCenter/DisableFamilyUIto1to hide the Family options area.
- Set
- Using Group Policy (Windows 10/11 Pro or managed environment):
These steps either remove or relax Microsoft Family Safety controls from the account, or hide the Family options UI in Windows Security, depending on what “family permission option” refers to in the environment.
References:
AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information. - If Family Safety restrictions are applied to the account