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family safety not reporting screentime, only web activity

Paul Cluskey 0 Reputation points
2026-04-07T20:15:13.63+00:00

Title says it all, No activity is reported (enabled in both app and on PC). My son isn't an admin, and no he's not guessed my password, I've sat on his PC for hours logged in as him and no activity is reported. Its up-to-date but isn't reporting.

I gather there are no diagnostic logs or URLs I can investigate for myself, no local logs at all indicating an issue. I've removed, re-added his account to the family safety group, no joy.

This is getting very frustrating and causing the expected family tensions as we have to manually monitor screen time (he's 13 so wants to game!)

All I get from MS online is the AI suggested 'fixes' none of which worked. I'm on my 3rd engineer now, so fingers crossed. Hopefully this one can help. The first 2 didn't appear to know much about the App.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Family and online safety

Answer recommended by moderator

Paul Cluskey 0 Reputation points
2026-04-08T13:39:59.1766667+00:00

so if web activity is working, but not screentime, check the parental control service is running and not disabled (if disabled set to automatic or delayed start, then start it). this resolved a problem I've had for the last month!

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  1. Erki M 0 Reputation points
    2026-05-01T09:14:59.78+00:00

    Microsoft Family Safety screen time tracking has now broken for me for the third time.

    I only discovered it because it felt like my child had been on the computer unusually long, and indeed nothing was being logged.

    Each time I manage to get it working again with various ad-hoc fixes, but this is not acceptable for a parental control system that is supposed to be reliable.

    Also, the "Verify" flow is broken. It asks me to log in and then nothing happens. At this point it feels like I am being directed to use one broken app to check why the other part of the system is not working.

    This makes the whole setup hard to trust.

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  2. Norah-L 6,685 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-04-08T03:42:53.8766667+00:00

    Good day Paul Cluskey,

    Thank you for reaching out. I'm here to help!

    From what you shared, Microsoft Family Safety is not reporting any screen time activity for your child’s account. Only web activity appears, even though screen time tracking is enabled both on the PC and in the Family Safety app, the device is up to date, and the child account is not an administrator.

    Here are a couple of additional things you may want to check:

    Verify that your child's Microsoft account didn't expire:

    • Have them sign in with their Microsoft account on their device.
    • Select Start > Settings > Accounts Select Verify and follow the prompts to verify their account. If you don't see the Verify option, open Microsoft Edge on their device and verify the account at https:⁠//aka.ms/familyverify.

    Notes:

    • Children aged 13 or older can choose to opt out of activity sharing. Please review the activity reporting settings at family.microsoft.com or in the Family Safety mobile app. If activity reporting has been turned off, you will need to regain their consent before you can turn it back on.
    • Additionally, if your time zone is set incorrectly, then device usage may show up under a different day in your activity report. You can validate the time zone on your Microsoft account to make sure activity reports are showing usage accurately.

    Hope this is helpful. Feel free to post back if you need any further support!

    If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

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