Device controls · Windows
Checked August 18, 2026
Windows: Family Safety filters Edge, and only Edge
Windows has no adult-website filter of its own. Microsoft Family Safety's Filter inappropriate websites and searches blocks mature sites and forces Bing SafeSearch, but only in Microsoft Edge and only for a family member an organizer manages. A second browser is the usual hole; DNS is the alternative that reaches every browser.
A platform-side model decides what counts. Misses are common on suggestive content, and the model changes without notice.
The honest line
Family Safety filters Edge only, and only for a member managed by a family organizer; a second browser is the usual hole, and Windows itself has no adult-site filter outside Family Safety.
Who can lock it: The family organizer. Only an organizer can change a member's content filters or remove them from the group, so the lock is real when someone else is organizer and you are a member. An organizer cannot filter himself.
Availability: Family Safety settings are managed at family.microsoft.com or in the Microsoft Family Safety app; the member must sign in to Windows and Edge with the Microsoft account that is in the family group.
On this page
Filter inappropriate websites and searches
Family Safety's content filter for a member. Microsoft: by default, mature websites will be blocked and searches will be filtered in the Bing search engine. It works only in Microsoft Edge with the member signed in to their Microsoft account. Microsoft's page also notes you can unblock browsers in App and game filters, which is where other browsers are kept blocked.
A platform-side model decides what counts. Misses are common on suggestive content, and the model changes without notice.
On the web (family.microsoft.com)
- Sign in to your Microsoft account as an organizer, then select Family Safety from the menu on the left. Official Windows destination (opens in a new tab)
Find your family member, open their menu and select Go to overview.
Select Edge as a platform.
Turn the Filter inappropriate websites and searches toggle on.
Add addresses under Blocked sites or Allowed sites. Turn on Only use allowed websites to allow nothing but your list.
Always allow educational websites is a separate toggle.
- Under App and game filters, keep every other browser blocked. Official Windows destination (opens in a new tab)
Microsoft Family Safety app (Android and iPhone)
Open the Microsoft Family Safety app and select your family member.
Select Content filters.
Turn on filtering (Microsoft's app steps name the Only use allowed websites slider), then add or select sites to allow or block.
- Under Apps and games, block the other browsers. Official Windows destination (opens in a new tab)
What it covers
- Microsoft Edge on Windows, Xbox and mobile, when the member is signed in with their Microsoft account
- Mature websites by Microsoft's classifier, plus your Blocked sites list
- Bing searches, filtered as part of the same toggle
What it does not cover
- Only Edge; Microsoft says the filters only work with the Microsoft Edge browser
- Any browser not blocked under App and game filters is a clean bypass
- Signed-out Edge or a different Microsoft account is not filtered; Microsoft says members must use Edge while signed into their Microsoft accounts
- A member with a Windows administrator account can change or break the Family Safety settings, per Microsoft's troubleshooting page
- A classifier: some adult sites pass
Bing SafeSearch
Bing's own filter. Strict removes explicit text, images and video; Moderate, the default, removes explicit images and video only; Off removes nothing. Family Safety sets it for a member. Microsoft also documents forcing Strict by mapping www.bing.com to strict.bing.com on a PC or in a router.
A platform-side model decides what counts. Misses are common on suggestive content, and the model changes without notice.
On bing.com
Open a browser and go to Bing.com.
Select the icon in the upper right, select Settings, then select More.
- Choose Strict, then select Save at the bottom of the menu. Official Windows destination (opens in a new tab)
Force Strict for a PC or a whole network
Map www.bing.com to strict.bing.com: on one PC in its hosts file, on a network as a CNAME in your router or DNS.
Microsoft: strict.bing.com will guarantee that strict SafeSearch results are returned for all queries and the SafeSearch controls are disabled.
Map edgeservices.bing.com to strict.bing.com as well to cover the Edge sidebar.
- Do not block Bing's IP outright; Microsoft warns that can block other Microsoft domains. Official Windows destination (opens in a new tab)
What it covers
- Bing search results, and the Edge sidebar when edgeservices.bing.com is mapped too
What it does not cover
- Bing only; Google, DuckDuckGo and every website are untouched
- A setting saved per browser: another browser or profile can be Off
- Nothing locks it for an adult unless you use the strict.bing.com mapping, which anyone with administrator rights can undo
Family organizer
Family Safety has two roles. Organizers can add and remove members and manage limits and permissions. For a member, Microsoft says only the family organizer can make changes to your safety settings, and only an organizer can remove someone from the group. So the lock exists only when another person is organizer and you are a member.
A passcode, a supervisor, or DNS keeps the setting from being switched back off in a weak moment.
Let someone you trust hold the key
- The person you trust signs in at family.microsoft.com with their Microsoft account and selects Add a family member. Official Windows destination (opens in a new tab)
They choose the role Member for you, enter your email or phone, and you accept the invite.
Microsoft describes Member as usually the best option for a child, but Member is the role an organizer can manage; organizers are not filtered.
On your Windows PC, sign in with that Microsoft account and use a standard, not administrator, Windows account.
Microsoft: as an administrator they can change or break the Family Safety settings.
- They turn on Filter inappropriate websites and searches for you and block other browsers under App and game filters. Official Windows destination (opens in a new tab)
What it covers
- Content filters, app and game filters and screen time for a member
- Leaving the group: only an organizer can remove a member
What it does not cover
- An organizer cannot be filtered; if you are the only adult, you are the organizer and there is no lock
- Microsoft says it is working on an update to let adult members opt out of organizer management, so this may loosen
- A member who is a Windows administrator can break the settings on that PC
- The filter still only reaches Edge
Windows questions
Does Windows have its own adult-content filter?
Not outside Family Safety. Microsoft's website and search filtering lives in Family Safety and works only in Microsoft Edge. For a filter that reaches every browser, set the PC's DNS to a filtering provider (Settings > Network & internet > your network > IP assignment > Edit > Manual, then Preferred DNS; Windows 11 adds a DNS over HTTPS choice), or do it once on the router. See On Guard's router and DNS guide.
Can I filter my own account with Family Safety?
Not as an organizer. Microsoft's troubleshooting page treats filters on an organizer's device as a fault to reset. You need to be a member of a group someone else organizes.
What about Chrome or Firefox?
Microsoft says the filters only work in Edge. Block the other browsers under App and game filters, or they are an open door.
What does the search filtering part actually do?
It filters Bing to strict results. Bing's own settings and the strict.bing.com mapping do the same thing outside Family Safety; neither touches Google.
What On Guard adds
On Guard on Windows detects explicit content on the screen itself, in every browser and app, keeps every frame on the device, puts up a gate, and texts an ally a check-in with no details, so a second browser is not a way around it.
The controls above are worth setting either way. On Guard is the layer for the moment a setting is not enough. How it works, explained.