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Nintendo Switch parental controls, right on the console — no phone app, no Nintendo account, no internet.
PlayGuard brings the settings of Nintendo's Parental Controls phone app onto a modded console. It drives the console's own controls (the limit, the PIN, the warnings, the suspension), so nothing runs in the background.
Warning
Requires custom firmware (Atmosphère). PlayGuard uses the restricted pctl service, some of it through *ForDebug commands. Use at your own risk.
- ⏱️ Play-time limit — the same every day or one per day, profiles, extra time or no more play today in one press.
- 📊 Activity — time per game and per account, charts, export to CSV, JSON, XLSX or PDF.
- 🔒 Restrictions and PIN — restriction level, age rating, PIN, temporary unlock, Block all games in one switch.
- 🕒 Console — the network clock set from public NTP servers, so the timer counts right on a console that never reaches Nintendo, and a check of the installed games.
- 📱 Companion app — unlink it, even on a second-hand console.
- ↩️ History and backups — every change is logged and can be undone.
- 🔔 Notifications — a bell gathers what needs you (an alarm off, a clock drifting, changes made elsewhere), with the fix one press away.
- 🌍 Every console language, light and dark themes.
- Tested on a console: firmware 22.0.0 → 22.5.0 (Atmosphère 1.11.x) and 23.0.1 (Atmosphère 1.12.1)
- Should work, untested: firmware 21.x (Atmosphère 1.10.x) and 23.0.0 (1.12.0); firmware 20.x and older with its Atmosphère, everything but the play timer
- Launchers: hbmenu, sphaira, Homebrew App Store
A firmware newer than 23.0.1 opens read-only until a release supports it. No Switch 2 support (there is no Atmosphère for it). Details: compatibility.
Search for PlayGuard in the Homebrew App Store or sphaira, or extract playguard.zip from the latest release to the root of the SD card. Launch it over a game, with a parent's user.
- Open PlayGuard: the First steps guide sets the PIN and the daily limit.
- Still linked to the phone app? PIN › Unlink the companion app, or its next sync overwrites what you set.
- Network clock inaccurate? Console › Network clock › Measure the time difference, then set it. Without Internet, read this first.
Forgotten PIN or second-hand console: Locked out?
- User guide: features · install · compatibility · troubleshooting
- Reference: companion app ·
config.json· how parental controls work · recovery sysmodule - Contributing: CONTRIBUTING.md · roadmap · changelog
GPLv3, see LICENSE. Maintained by JigSawFr. A fork of Pctl Manager by Taylor; fw 22.5 fixes and NTP sync from anbingxi/NX-Pctl-Manager. Built with borealis (Apache 2.0), QR Code generator (MIT) and Twemoji (CC-BY 4.0); command reference from switchbrew. The installed games check and its repairs follow Goldleaf and sphaira (GPLv3), with the ns and es command numbers of libnx-ext (MIT).
AI coding assistants help with development; every change is reviewed, unit-tested and checked on a real console before release.
PlayGuard is not affiliated with or endorsed by Nintendo. Nintendo Switch is a trademark of Nintendo.