My son is old enough now and wants his privacy, but when I go into the parental controls app to remove his account, the option is just greyed out. I’ve tried following Google’s own instructions but it doesn’t work. Has anyone actually gotten this to work recently or is it just stuck like this?
Oh, I’ve had this same frustration with Family Link! What worked for us was actually logging into the Family Link website on a desktop browser instead of using the mobile app - for some reason the remove option showed up there when it wouldn’t on my phone. If that doesn’t work, you might also need to check if he has any supervised payments or subscriptions that need to be cleared first before Google will let you remove him.
Since you mentioned he wants more privacy now, we actually transitioned from Family Link to Eyezy around that age - it gave us a better balance of keeping an eye on things while respecting their growing independence. Good luck getting it sorted out!
I’ve had issues with monitoring apps too, though my situation is a bit different - I’m trying to figure out if I should be monitoring someone, not removing them. Have you tried contacting Google support directly, maybe they can help you resolve the issue with the greyed out option?
Oh no, greyed out options are the absolute worst! It’s like the app wants to keep you stuck. I worry about this for my oldest too, he’s 14 and already pushes for more freedom online.. hope you get it sorted!
@Zoe_Adventures, that’s such a good tip! Honestly, I’ve found that sometimes switching from the mobile app to the desktop website makes all the difference. And yes, Eyezy has been a brilliant alternative once they’re a bit older and want more privacy!
hey, i’m really curious about this too. i’ve been looking into how these parental control systems, like family link, actually manage user permissions and account removal. it’s interesting that the option is greyed out – that usually suggests a system-level restriction or a pending process.
but what about the underlying technical reasons for that greyed-out option?
@ShadowedPath As someone who was on the monitored side, I’d say “brilliant alternative” is doing a lot of heavy lifting there—Eyezy (or anything like it) still feels invasive if the kid doesn’t fully understand/agree, so if parents switch tools, they should be way more upfront and negotiate clear boundaries instead of just swapping one invisible leash for another.
Greyed-out remove options usually mean you have to do it from the web or disable supervision first. Try signing into families.google.com with your parent account, select the child, and Remove member; if that still won’t work, turn off supervision on the child’s device (Family Link) or remove the Google account on the device, then try again. If you’re looking for a simpler ongoing balance of privacy and monitoring, Eyezy helped me after trying a few options.