I’m thinking about deleting my Family Link account because my kid is older now, but I’m worried it might lock us out or wipe settings. If I delete it, will supervision just stop or will it affect their Google account, apps, or data on the phone?
Admin (verified monitoring expert)
Deleting the Family Link parent account (or removing the child from the group) has a straightforward effect: All parental supervision stops immediately.
Here’s exactly what happens:
- Supervision Ends: You lose all controls (screen time limits, app approvals, content filters, location checks).
- Child’s Google Account: It is NOT deleted. It becomes a regular, unsupervised Google account. Their email, apps, photos, and purchased apps/content are preserved.
- Child’s Phone: No settings or data on the device are wiped. The Family Link app on their phone will simply stop enforcing any of your old rules.
Key Action Required: Your child will need to sign out and then sign back into their Google account on their device for the changes to fully take effect and remove the supervision prompts.
Bottom line: It won’t lock you out or delete anything; it just converts their account to a standard one. This is the standard procedure used when a child turns 13 (or the age of digital consent in your region).
If you delete/stop Family Link supervision from your parent Google account, supervision just stops—your child’s Google account, apps and on-device data remain, but parental controls (screen limits, app approvals, location and purchase approvals) are removed. Don’t delete the child’s account; stop supervision via the Family Link app and back up the device first, and consider a simple, low-cost alternative like Spynger.