Pairing with device controls
Chromebook: supervised account setup
In short
On a Chromebook you own, sign your child in with a supervised Google account via Family Link and disable guest browsing — guest mode bypasses supervision entirely and is one click from the login screen. On a school-managed Chromebook none of this is available to you.
First: whose Chromebook is it?
This determines everything else. A school-issued Chromebook is enrolled in the district’s Google Workspace domain, and that enrolment outranks any parent. It governs which accounts may sign in, which extensions may be installed, which sites are reachable, and which settings are even shown.
You can identify an enrolled device quickly: the school’s name on the sign-in screen, a "managed by your organisation" note in Settings, or a building icon near the account name. If it is managed, the rest of this article does not apply — most Chromebook parental-control advice online assumes a personal device and produces a frustrating hour of greyed-out options on a school one.
On a school device your realistic options are to ask the district what their filtering covers after school hours, apply router or DNS restrictions at home (which stop working on any other network), set household rules about where and when it is used, and move leisure viewing to a device you control. Watchly still works there because it needs no install — though whether any site is reachable remains the district’s decision.
On a Chromebook you own
Create a supervised account in Family Link
Set up your child’s Google account through Family Link on your phone first. The Chromebook then inherits that supervision when they sign in — there is no separate ChromeOS-side setup.
Sign them in on the Chromebook
Their supervised account becomes a user on the device. Supervision settings apply from first sign-in and can be changed remotely from Family Link afterwards.
Disable guest browsing
The single most important step, and the one most often skipped. In the device owner settings, turn off guest browsing and restrict sign-in to your family’s accounts. A guest session bypasses the supervised account entirely and sits one click from the login screen.
Require approval for extensions and apps
Family Link can require your approval for installs. Without it, an unsupervised browser extension or app can undo the configuration.
Set screen time and a bedtime
Both apply at the account level and follow your child onto any Chromebook they sign in to.
Why Chromebooks and Watchly fit well together
ChromeOS is a browser-first operating system, and Watchly is a browser-based product, so there is no install friction and nothing to approve — which matters most on exactly the device where installs are most often blocked.
On a school-managed Chromebook that is decisive. Every agent-based or extension-based tool is unavailable to a parent by policy. A site your child opens and signs into is what remains available.
On a personal Chromebook the pairing is the usual shape: the supervised account governs the device and which sites are reachable, and Watchly governs which videos exist. Because both the supervision and the Watchly profile follow the child’s account rather than the hardware, a second Chromebook needs no setup at all.
Common questions
Why can I not install an extension on my child’s school Chromebook?
The school owns the device policy. Enrolment in the district’s Workspace domain governs which extensions may be installed, and parents have no administrative standing there. It cannot be worked around from the parent side.
Can I add my child’s personal Google account to their school Chromebook?
Usually not — most districts restrict sign-in to accounts in the school domain. Where it is allowed, whether your Family Link supervision reaches that secondary profile depends on how the district configured it. Check with the school first.
My supervised account setup is not stopping anything.
Guest browsing is almost certainly still enabled. It gives an unsupervised session with no restrictions, one click from the login screen. Turn it off in the device owner settings.
Does Watchly need an extension on a Chromebook?
No. It runs in the browser like any website, which is why it works on managed devices where extensions are blocked. On a school Chromebook the district still decides which sites are reachable.
Related articles
Android: Family Link device setup
Supervised account, app approval, limits, and bedtime on Android.
Why Watchly has no device agent — and what to pair it with
The trade behind running in the browser, and how to cover the other half.
Devices and browsers
What it runs on, adding it to a home screen, and TV browsers.
Try it with your own kids
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