Disable Family Safety feature to access blocked websites

Microsoft Edge
1

I'm having trouble accessing certain websites because I keep getting a message saying I need to ask a family member for permission.

I've set my birthdate to show I'm over 18, but this message still appears. I want to remove the family safety feature, but I can't because I'm the only one on the account. When I try to request permission, I get an error message. None of the suggested solutions I've found have worked. Please help me remove this feature or provide a solution that actually works.

2

I totally get how frustrating that must be. I’ll walk you through some steps that should help you disable the Family Safety feature and access those blocked websites.

First, let’s try something pretty straightforward. Go to the Family Safety webpage at https://family.microsoft.com and check if your account is part of a family group. If it is, you’ll need to leave that group.

Here’s how to do it:

  1. Sign in to family.microsoft.com with your credentials.
  2. Click next to your name and select “Leave family group”.
  3. Confirm by selecting “Remove”.

Next, let’s ensure the Family Features service is disabled:

  1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box.
  2. Type “services.msc” and press Enter.
  3. In the Services window, scroll down and locate the “Microsoft Family Features” service.
  4. Right-click on the service and select Properties.
  5. Change the Startup type to “Disabled” and click Apply.

If you don’t see “Microsoft Family Features” in the Services window, we’ll try another approach:

  1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box.
  2. Type “netplwiz” and press Enter.
  3. In the User Accounts window, select your account and uncheck the box that says “Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer.”
  4. Click Apply and enter your password if prompted. Restart your computer to see if the pop-up still appears.

Lastly, make sure to turn off other related settings:

  1. Go to account.microsoft.com/family.
  2. Choose the account and select “Remove” to remove family settings.
  3. Repeat this process for each settings page (Recent activity, Web browsing, Apps, games & media, Screen time, Purchase & spending) and turn off any active switches ensuring no family limits are set.

If you’ve already tried these steps and nothing seems to work, you might want to try reinstalling Microsoft Family Features and then disabling it again. It sounds like a pain, but it might be worth a shot.

I hope these steps actually work for you and you get rid of that annoying popup Good luck, and let me know if you need any further help.