Windows 10: Screen time limits in microsoft family difficult to use effectively

Hi All,The way the time limits work with screen scheduled I find extremely difficult and clunky to work with. I'd really like to get some thoughts around the problems I'm facing.I can set time limits in 2 places, in the daily time limits, and through scheduled time blocks, but the problem is these 2 settings essentially conflict with each other. I'll explain.I would like to set the schedules so my kids can use the computers in 1 hour blocks, 9am - 10am, 10:30am - 11:30am etc. So 1 hour on, 30 minutes off.The problem is, that setting these blocks, also automatically sets the daily time limit as

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Screen time limits in microsoft family difficult to use effectively

Hi All,

The way the time limits work with screen scheduled I find extremely difficult and clunky to work with. I'd really like to get some thoughts around the problems I'm facing.

I can set time limits in 2 places, in the daily time limits, and through scheduled time blocks, but the problem is these 2 settings essentially conflict with each other. I'll explain.

I would like to set the schedules so my kids can use the computers in 1 hour blocks, 9am - 10am, 10:30am - 11:30am etc. So 1 hour on, 30 minutes off.

The problem is, that setting these blocks, also automatically sets the daily time limit as well. This wouldn't be a problem, except that the screen timer is a bit broken, and keeps running even when the kids have been locked out, unless they explicitly sign
out of windows before the time schedule locks the screen.

So by 12pm, my child may only have been able to use the computer for 2 hours. However the timer thinks they've used it for 3 hours. They then get kicked off at around 2pm, while still needing to finish their school work.

I then have to get into the family controls to extend the time manually. Exactly the problem I was hoping to avoid by setting the schedules in the first place.

I thought perhaps I could solve the problem by setting the daily time limit to a fairly large number, like 12 hours, and then it won't matter if the timer keeps counting while the screen is locked. However it won't allow me to do this, it will automatically
re-set the daily limit to be the sum of all the time-blocks.

The way I think it should work instead. It should allow me to set the limits either in blocks of time, or by a daily limit, and these should be independent of each other.

Setting the time blocks does not need to automatically update the daily time limit. The way it currently works makes no sense, and just makes things unnescessarily difficult for parents. If the time blocks have already been set, the daily time limit is irrelevant.

Any thoughts?

 

time limits in family not working

Hi Barbara,

We would like to know more details about your concern about the Family Safety time limit that is not working so we can better assist you. Kindly answer the following:

• Does it happen only with particular child account?
• What troubleshooting steps have you done so far?

In the meantime, we would suggest that you refer to this
support link on how to set up screen time limits for your child.

We look forward to your response.

 

Microsoft Family Screen time is BROKEN

Hello,



Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.



1. Were you able to perform this task previously?

2. Are you aware of any changes made on your PC, prior to this issue?





As I understand your concern related to Microsoft Family screen time limits, let us try few troubleshooting methods to fix this issue and check if that helps:

Method 1: Fix screen time limits not working. Refer the following article on
Fix screen time limits not working
for steps to troubleshoot issue with screen limits.

Method 2: If the issue persists, I suggest you to remove and re-add the child account back to the family account. Refer the article on
Remove members from your family group
for steps to remove the child account from the family account. You can refer the following article on

Add members to your family group for steps to add the child account back to your family account.



Hope it helps,

Sandeep Kumar M

Microsoft Community – Moderator