Mac Inside & Out · System Settings & Accounts · Lesson 5 of 5

Challenge: Setting Up the Family Mac

Help a mom and her son set up a shared Mac safely and comfortably.

A new Mac for Lena and Theo

Your friend Lena just bought a Mac. It is for her and her son Theo, who is nine. She asks you to help her set it up on Saturday.

Lena made the first account when she turned the Mac on, so hers is an admin account. She will look after the Mac and install the apps.

Theo needs his own account for homework and a few games. Lena wants him to use the Mac freely, but she doesn't want him installing apps or changing important settings without her.

You open System Settings and go to Users & Groups to add Theo.

Bedtime rules for Theo

Next, Lena wants limits. Theo should not be on the Mac after 8 PM on school nights. She also wants games capped at one hour a day, and adult websites blocked.

Theo is in Lena's Family Sharing group, so she can manage this from her own account. You show her where the limits live in System Settings, and help her set a passcode so Theo can't switch them off.

Words too small to read

While you work, Lena squints at the sidebar. She says the words on the Mac are too small, but she doesn't want the whole screen magnified. She just wants text to be bigger, all the time.

She also doesn't remember where anything is in System Settings yet.

A call about Lena's account

On Monday, Lena texts you. A man called saying he was from Apple. He said her new Mac had a problem with her Apple Account. A moment later, a six-digit code popped up on her Mac and iPhone. The caller asked her to read it to him so he could fix things.