Quick Start
Here is a typical setup: give a child 90 minutes each day, block one app completely, and let the child ask for extra time when needed.
- Sign in to an administrator account and open Oh No! Parent Control.
- Under Child account, choose the child you want to manage.
- Open Screen Limits, turn on Screen Time Limit, and set Daily Time Allowance to 1.5 hours.
- Open App Limits. Set apps the child should never open to Hard Blocked. Set apps that may be allowed with an approved request to Soft Blocked.
- The child signs in and uses the computer normally. Their remaining time appears in the desktop panel.
- When the child needs more time, they select the remaining-time control, choose a duration and an approving parent, and select Request access.
- The selected parent enters their password in the system authentication prompt. Once approved, the extra time is ready to use.
Changes in the Parent App save automatically.
The screenshots use sample accounts. Names and available apps will be different on your computer.
Parent App
The Parent App is available to administrator accounts. Use it to manage one local, non-administrator child account at a time.
Choose a child
Use Child account at the top of the window. Screen-time settings, app rules, and extra-time grants are separate for each child.
If a child does not appear, make sure the account is a local standard account. Administrator accounts, system accounts, remote accounts, and the dedicated request account are not shown as children.
Set a daily screen-time allowance
On Screen Limits:
- Turn on Screen Time Limit.
- Choose a Daily Time Allowance, from 0 minutes through 24 hours.
- Check Today's Remaining Time to see how much time the child can currently use.
A 0-minute allowance is request-only mode. The child can use the account only while approved extra time is active.
Changing the daily allowance takes effect right away. It does not shorten extra time that is already active. Time is counted using the computer's local day, and a Rest of the day approval ends at the next local midnight.
If you turn Screen Time Limit off:
- The daily time restriction is removed.
- Active extra time is cleared.
- The chosen allowance and app rules are kept for later.
- App rules continue to apply.
What happens when time runs out
When no usable time remains, the child's desktop locks. A new child sign-in is also unavailable until daily time or approved extra time is available, and the sign-in screen explains that the time limit has passed. The child's open session is kept, and other signed-in users are not affected.
If the child needs access after time runs out, they can make a request from the dedicated request screen at sign-in. A parent cannot add time directly in the Parent App; the child starts the request and a parent approves it.
App Limits
Open App Limits after choosing a child. You can search the child's installed apps and give each listed app one access rule:
- Always Allowed — Oh No! Parent Control does not block the app.
- Hard Blocked — The app stays blocked until an administrator changes its rule. An extra-time request cannot allow it.
- Soft Blocked — The app is normally blocked, but a parent may allow it as part of an extra-time request.
Select a rule to apply it. There is no Save button. If you newly block an app that the selected child is using, that app closes in all of that child's signed-in sessions. Apps used by other people stay open.
App rules work even when the child's screen-time limit is off.
App matching
Most people can keep the suggested match rule:
- Precise execution path matches the app's current installed file.
- Pattern Match may be offered for versioned AppImage files. It can keep matching supported new versions stored in the same folder.
App Limits controls the supported app selected in the Parent App. It does not filter websites or content inside an app, control another device, or promise to block renamed or separately copied programs and scripts.
Request Extra Time
A child whose screen-time limit is on can request extra time in either of two places:
- From the child's desktop: select the remaining-time control in the top panel. The child's account is filled in automatically and cannot be changed.
- From the sign-in screen: choose the dedicated Oh No! Parent Control request account. This opens only the request screen; it does not provide a general desktop or Parent App access.
On the request screen:
- Choose the child if the request was opened from the sign-in screen.
- Choose the parent who will approve the request.
- Choose a listed duration, Rest of the day, or Custom value. A custom request can be from 0.1 through 1440 minutes.
- Decide whether to turn on Allow soft blocked apps.
- Select Request access.
- The chosen parent enters their password in the system authentication prompt.
The password is handled only by the system authentication prompt. Oh No! Parent Control does not receive, store, or display it. Approval applies only to the request shown and does not give the child administrator access.
Choosing “Allow soft blocked apps”
When it is on, soft-blocked apps can be opened for that approved period. Hard-blocked apps still cannot be newly opened. Approving this choice does not close apps that are already open.
When it is off, both hard- and soft-blocked apps remain blocked. If the child already has any blocked apps open, those apps close before the extra time begins.
The request screen remembers the last duration, custom value, approving parent, and soft-app choice for each child.
How extra time is added
A fixed-duration approval extends whichever currently gives the child more usable time: unused daily time or an earlier extra-time approval. A new request will not replace a later end time with an earlier one.
Choosing Rest of the day provides access until the computer reaches its next local midnight.
When an approval ends
The child's desktop locks when their usable time reaches zero. The approval ending does not immediately close apps in the locked session. Before the child next signs in or unlocks, normal soft and hard blocks are restored and the child's blocked apps close.
Cancelled or denied requests
- Cancelling the system password prompt returns to the request form.
- An incorrect password shows Request denied and leaves the choices available for another attempt.
- Cancel or Escape closes the form on the child's desktop. On the dedicated request screen, it returns to sign-in.
- After approval, the desktop form closes. The dedicated request screen briefly confirms approval, then returns to sign-in.
Revoke Extra Time
To remove an active one-time approval:
- Open the Parent App and choose the child.
- Select Revoke one-time grant.
- Read the warning and confirm.
Revoking removes the child's extra time and temporary soft-app access. The child's running blocked apps close. Their unused daily allowance is not changed, and other users are not affected. If no daily time remains, the child's desktop locks.
Common Questions
Why is the remaining-time control not visible?
It appears only on an unlocked child desktop while screen-time control is enabled and usable time remains. It is not shown on the sign-in or lock screen.
Why does the request screen say the screen limit is not enabled?
Extra-time requests are available only when Screen Time Limit is on for that child. An administrator can enable it in the Parent App.
Why is a parent missing from the approver list?
An approving parent must be a current, unlocked, local administrator account.
Why is an app missing from App Limits?
First confirm that the correct child is selected. The list reflects apps available to that child, including apps installed only for that account. Apps that are not supported launchable applications may not appear.
Why did an app close?
The selected child's running blocked apps can close when an app rule becomes more restrictive, when extra time is approved without soft-app access, or when extra time is revoked. Apps belonging to other users are not closed.
Do settings survive a restart?
Yes. Screen-time choices, app rules, and remembered request options remain after app restarts, sign-out, and reboot.
What should I do if a change fails?
Wait for any current change to finish, then try again. The app reports a failed operation instead of showing it as saved. If the problem continues, contact your computer administrator or product support and include the action you attempted and the message shown. Never send anyone a password.