How to turn off Screen Time on iPhone (even without the passcode)

What happens when you turn off Screen Time

Turning Screen Time off removes all its settings on that device: App Limits, Downtime, Communication Limits, Always Allowed, Content & Privacy Restrictions and the Screen Time passcode. It also erases your usage history. Apps, data and accounts are not touched. If you turn it on later, you start again with empty reports and default settings. If Share Across Devices is on, turning it off on one device can clear the reports on your other devices too.

Turn off only part of Screen Time

If one limit annoys you, you do not have to switch everything off. Open Settings › Screen Time and change just that part:

• Downtime: tap Downtime and turn off the schedule.
• App Limits: tap App Limits, swipe left on a limit and delete it, or switch App Limits off.
• Content & Privacy Restrictions: turn off the main switch to lift every content block.
• Passcode: tap Change Screen Time Passcode › Turn Off Screen Time Passcode.
• Notifications from Screen Time: turn off Screen Time notifications in Settings › Notifications › Screen Time.

You keep weekly reports, which many people find useful even without limits.

How to turn off Screen Time on iPhone, step by step

1. Open Settings and tap Screen Time.
2. Scroll to the bottom.
3. Tap Turn Off App & Website Activity. On iOS 16 and earlier it says Turn Off Screen Time.
4. Enter the Screen Time passcode if asked.
5. Confirm. The Screen Time screen now shows a button to turn it back on.

Forgot the Screen Time passcode

Apple lets you reset it with the Apple Account that set it. Tap Change Screen Time Passcode, then Forgot Passcode?, and sign in. If the Forgot Passcode option is missing, you set the code without linking an Apple Account, or the iPhone runs an old iOS version. Update to the latest iOS first. If it still is not offered, you will need to erase the iPhone and set it up as new, since restoring a backup brings back the same passcode. Full steps are in our forgotten Screen Time passcode guide.

Turning off Screen Time on a child's iPhone

If the child is in your Family Sharing group, manage their Screen Time from your own device. Open Settings › Screen Time and tap their name under Family. Turn off App & Website Activity there. Changes reach the child's device within a few minutes when it is online. If the child's device still shows limits, restart it and check that it is signed in to iCloud.

Why you cannot turn off Screen Time

• A parent manages your account: under Family Sharing, only the organizer or a parent can turn it off. Children under 13 cannot leave a family group on their own.
• Work or school device: a profile in Settings › General › VPN & Device Management can enforce restrictions. Ask the administrator.
• Wrong passcode: after several wrong tries, iOS makes you wait longer between attempts.
• The switch is missing: update iOS, then look again at the bottom of the Screen Time screen.

Turning 13, 16 or 18 in Family Sharing

Family Sharing rules change with age. In the US, a child under 13 needs a parent to create their account and stay in a family group. Teens 13 and older can leave a family group, which removes the parent's Screen Time control, though a parent may have kept a Screen Time passcode on the device. At 18, a family member becomes an adult on the account and Ask to Buy and other child features turn off. If you are an adult and still see a parent's limits, ask them to remove you from the family or share the passcode.

Turn off Screen Time on iPad and Mac

iPad uses the same path as iPhone. On a Mac, open System Settings › Screen Time and click App & Website Activity, then Turn Off App & Website Activity. With Share Across Devices on, changes on one device can affect the others, so check each one after.

Should you turn it off?

For your own phone, many people turn off limits but keep App & Website Activity on for the weekly report. It costs almost no battery and helps you spot apps that take more time than you thought. For a child, turning everything off removes content filters as well, including explicit content and web limits. Think about keeping those even if you relax time limits.

Turn Screen Time back on

Open Settings › Screen Time and tap App & Website Activity to start again. Choose whether this is your iPhone or your child's, set Downtime and App Limits if you want them, and choose a new Screen Time passcode. If limits did not work properly before, see fixes for Screen Time limits that do not block.

Other parental tools on iPhone

If you turned off Screen Time to try something else, compare first. Third-party parental control apps on iPhone use the same Screen Time system under the hood, so they cannot do much more. For a quick single-app lock, try Guided Access. For an Android phone in the family, Google Family Link fills the same role.

Screen Time on a used iPhone with someone else's passcode

If you bought a used iPhone and it asks for a Screen Time passcode you never set, the previous owner did not erase it properly. Ask them for the code or to erase it remotely. Otherwise, back up your own data and erase the iPhone in Settings › General › Transfer or Reset iPhone › Erase All Content and Settings. Erasing may need the Screen Time passcode on some versions, in which case a computer restore with Finder or iTunes works. Check first that Activation Lock is not on; see how to check a used phone before buying.

Turn off Screen Time without the passcode on a child's device

A parent can always do it from their own device through Family Sharing, without the code. If you do not have the parent's iPhone nearby, the parent can use any Apple device signed in to their account, including a Mac. A child cannot bypass the passcode on their own, by design.

Does Screen Time slow down your iPhone?

No. Screen Time runs quietly and uses very little battery or storage. Turning it off will not speed up a slow phone. If speed is the reason, see ways to speed up an iPhone instead.

Common questions after turning it off

• Do my contacts lose limits? Communication Limits are removed along with everything else.
• Will I still see battery stats? Yes. Settings › Battery has its own usage chart.
• Will apps reappear? Apps hidden by content restrictions come back on the Home Screen or in the App Library.
• Will Ask to Buy stop? No. Ask to Buy is a Family Sharing setting, separate from Screen Time.

Quick recap

1. Own iPhone: Settings › Screen Time › Turn Off App & Website Activity.
2. Forgot the code: Change Screen Time Passcode › Forgot Passcode.
3. Child's iPhone: from your device, under Family.
4. Only one limit: change that limit and keep the rest.