How to Set Nintendo Switch Parental Controls for Game Purchases

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To stop a child from buying games on a Nintendo Switch or Nintendo Switch 2, use the parent or guardian’s Nintendo Account—not just the console’s Parental Controls menu. In the Nintendo Account family group, open the child’s supervised account, turn on Spending Restrictions, and save.

You can separately enable Age-Based Content Restrictions to limit which eShop content the child can see. Nintendo does not provide a monthly dollar cap or an approval prompt for every transaction through this setting; for a controlled budget, add a chosen amount with a Nintendo eShop card instead.

What actually blocks game purchases

Nintendo divides parental controls between two places. Play-time limits, age ratings for games, communication controls and similar console features are managed on the console or with the Nintendo Switch Parental Controls smart-device app. Nintendo eShop purchase restrictions are managed in Nintendo Account settings by a parent or guardian in the child’s Nintendo family group.

The setting that stops transactions is Spending Restrictions. Nintendo describes it as disabling purchases and auto-renewal options on Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch and through the Nintendo Store, including physical orders. It is a block, not a configurable allowance: there is no monthly amount field and no per-purchase approval workflow in this setting.

“Only a parent/guardian Nintendo Account in a Nintendo family group can set Nintendo eShop purchase restrictions.”

— Nintendo Support

If the goal is to prevent unsuitable games from appearing in the eShop rather than to stop payment, use Age-Based Content Restrictions as a separate control. You can enable both settings.

What you need before changing the setting

• A Nintendo Account used by the parent or guardian.
• The child’s account must be in that Nintendo Account’s family group.
• The child’s account must be supervised. If it is not supervised, complete the family-group and supervision setup before purchase restrictions become available.
• Access to a web browser or the Nintendo Account settings page. The console app alone is not the purchase-control location.

The steps below follow Nintendo’s current US support wording. Account labels and the exact regional flow can differ outside the United States. If a menu name does not match, open the Nintendo Support page for your country rather than assuming that a similarly named console setting controls purchases.

How to stop purchases step by step

1. Sign in to the parent or guardian Nintendo Account

   Use the Nintendo Account that is designated as the parent or guardian in the child’s family group. A child account or an unrelated adult account will not expose the family purchase-restriction controls. If more than one adult manages the family group, use an account with the parent or guardian role rather than simply the adult account that happens to be signed in on the console.

2. Open the Family group

   From the account settings, open Family group. Review the members and select the child’s supervised Nintendo Account. If the child does not appear as a supervised member, stop here and finish the supervision or family-group setup first. The restriction belongs to that Nintendo Account, not to a particular controller, console user icon or device in the abstract.

3. Turn on Spending Restrictions

   Open the selected child account’s restrictions and enable Spending Restrictions. Nintendo’s setting covers purchases and auto-renewal options on Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch and through the Nintendo Store, including physical orders. Read the confirmation carefully so you know which account and channels are covered.

4. Optionally turn on Age-Based Content Restrictions

   If you also want to limit the games and other content shown in the eShop, enable Age-Based Content Restrictions. This limits eShop content visibility according to the player’s age; it is independent of whether spending is blocked. A child may therefore see fewer products while still needing Spending Restrictions to prevent a charge.

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5. Save the changes

   Save the account settings. The restriction is associated with the supervised Nintendo Account, so check that you edited the account the child actually uses on the console. If the child signs in with another Nintendo Account, that other account needs its own review.

Which control should you use?

Control	What it does	What it does not do	Where it applies
Spending Restrictions	Disables purchases and auto-renewal options.	It is not a monthly spending cap and does not ask a parent to approve each transaction.	Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Store channels listed by Nintendo, including physical orders.
Age-Based Content Restrictions	Limits eShop content visible to the player according to age.	It does not by itself describe a spending limit or a payment approval process.	Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch eShops.
Nintendo eShop card balance	Adds a specific amount to the child’s account for purchases up to the available balance.	It does not configure parental controls or prevent someone from adding more funds later.	The child’s Nintendo Account balance.
Console or smart-device parental controls	Handles features such as age ratings, communication and play-time limits.	The app and console menus are not the Nintendo Account location for eShop purchase restrictions.	The linked console and its parental-control features.
Device app-store controls	Controls purchases made through the settings of a phone or tablet’s app store.	Nintendo Account eShop restrictions should not be assumed to govern unrelated app stores.	The individual smart device and its store account.

How Spending Restrictions behave

It blocks transactions rather than setting an allowance

When Spending Restrictions is enabled, Nintendo describes purchases and auto-renewal options as disabled. Treat this as an on-or-off prohibition. The setting does not provide a field for “$10 per month,” a weekly allowance, or a parent approval notification for each attempted purchase.

That distinction matters when a child asks to buy one particular game. You cannot use this control to approve one transaction while automatically rejecting the next one. To permit a purchase, a parent would need to manage the restriction and the account arrangement deliberately, then restore the desired settings afterward. Nintendo’s documented option itself is a disablement, not a queue of requests for a parent to approve.

It covers more than downloadable games

Nintendo’s wording includes Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Store channels, including physical orders. Therefore, do not configure the restriction only with downloadable games in mind; it is intended to cover the supported purchase channels listed in the account setting. The exact presentation of the store may vary by region, but the account-level description is broader than a single digital storefront screen.

Auto-renewals are part of the restriction

The same Spending Restrictions description includes auto-renewal options. This matters for subscriptions or other services that renew without a new one-time purchase. If you need to allow a particular renewal, review the account setting before changing the restriction rather than assuming it affects only game purchases. A parent who is checking a bank statement should consider recurring charges as well as individual game purchases when deciding whether the setting meets the family’s goal.

How Age-Based Content Restrictions differ

Age-Based Content Restrictions answer a visibility question: which content can the player see in the Nintendo Switch 2 or Nintendo Switch eShop based on the player’s age? They are not a substitute for Spending Restrictions when the objective is to prevent a charge.

For the strongest separation of content and payment controls, enable both settings in the same supervised account. Age filtering can reduce what appears in the store, while Spending Restrictions handles the transaction and auto-renewal block. If you turn on only the age setting, do not describe the account as purchase-locked.

These controls also solve different conversations with a child. Age restrictions address whether a title is suitable to browse; Spending Restrictions address whether money can leave the account. Keeping the two decisions separate makes it easier to change one without accidentally changing the other.

Why the Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app is not enough

The Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app and the console’s own parental-control settings are useful for play-time schedules, age ratings, communication and related restrictions. Nintendo’s support overview assigns eShop purchase restrictions to Nintendo Account settings instead.

Do not look for a spending switch only in the app. Sign in to the parent or guardian account, open Family group, select the supervised child account and change the account-level setting. If the app shows that play time is restricted but a purchase can still be attempted, that is expected until Spending Restrictions is enabled in the Nintendo Account.

This separation also explains why changing a console PIN or a play-time schedule does not automatically change eShop purchasing. Those are useful layers, but they are not substitutes for the family-group account control.

Use an eShop card when you want a bounded balance

Some parents want a child to buy games, but only with a known amount. Nintendo’s suggested alternative is to add a specific amount to the child’s account using a Nintendo eShop card. The child can then use the available balance for purchases.

1. Decide the amount you are willing to make available.
2. Redeem the Nintendo eShop card to the child’s Nintendo Account, following Nintendo’s redemption process for your region.
3. Explain that purchases draw down the available balance.
4. Keep Spending Restrictions enabled if you want to prevent additional transactions, or use the balance approach as your chosen budgeting method when purchases should remain available.

An eShop card does not turn into a parental-control rule. It adds funds; it does not set an age filter, disable auto-renewals or create an approval request. Also remember that the balance approach is bounded only by the balance you provide; adding another card or funds changes what can be spent.

This approach is best understood as prepaid funding, not a monthly limit. The card’s value is the amount available until it is used, and the account can have a different balance later. Check the card and account region requirements in Nintendo’s local redemption instructions before purchasing, since the documented process can differ by country.

Purchases made on phones and tablets

Nintendo notes that purchases made through a smart-device app require checking that device’s own settings. A Nintendo Account eShop restriction should not be treated as a universal control for unrelated app stores or payment systems on a phone or tablet.

If the child uses a smart device as well as a Switch, review the device’s family, purchase and authentication settings separately. Use the Nintendo Account family-group restriction for Nintendo eShop activity and the device’s own controls for purchases made outside Nintendo’s supported store channels. A restriction that works for the Switch eShop therefore may not stop an in-app purchase made through a phone’s operating-system store.

Check that you changed the correct account

Family groups can contain multiple children and adults. Before troubleshooting, verify all of the following:

• You signed in as the parent or guardian, not as the child.
• You opened the correct Family group.
• You selected the supervised account linked to the child’s Switch profile.
• Spending Restrictions is enabled, not only Age-Based Content Restrictions.
• You saved the change after editing the setting.

If the child uses more than one Nintendo Account, repeat the account check for each account. A restriction on one supervised account does not establish that every other account on the console has the same setting. Likewise, changing the setting for one child does not automatically change the settings for siblings in the same family group; select each supervised account whose purchases you need to control.

Troubleshooting common setup problems

The child does not appear in Family group

The purchase controls are available to a parent or guardian in a Nintendo family group. If the child is absent, confirm that the child account was added to that family group and that supervision was completed. An account that is not supervised must be brought into the family-group flow before Nintendo’s purchase restriction instructions apply.

You can see age settings but not spending settings

Age-based visibility and spending are separate controls. Seeing an age option does not mean the purchase block is active. Return to the supervised account’s Nintendo Account settings and look specifically for Spending Restrictions.

The app shows a play-time limit but purchases remain possible

Play-time controls are not the eShop purchase control. Make the change in the parent or guardian Nintendo Account’s Family group settings, then save it. Recheck that the account used for the attempted purchase is the supervised account you edited.

A menu label is different from these instructions

The documented flow uses current US wording. Nintendo can present different labels or account paths in other regions. Use the regional Nintendo Support instructions for the account’s country instead of changing an unrelated console setting. Do not infer that a similarly named setting has the same scope.

A phone or tablet purchase is not blocked

Check the smart device’s own app-store and payment settings. Nintendo specifically indicates that purchases made through a smart-device app require device-specific controls, so do not assume the Nintendo Account eShop setting governs an unrelated store.

A purchase still appears possible after a change

First confirm that the change was saved and that you edited the correct supervised account. Check whether the attempted transaction is occurring through a Nintendo channel covered by the setting or through a separate phone, tablet or app-store system. If the account or channel is different, apply the corresponding restriction rather than relying on the Switch setting alone.

A practical setup for different family goals

Goal: no purchases at all

Enable Spending Restrictions for every relevant supervised child account. This is the clearest match when the requirement is to stop game purchases and auto-renewal options.

Goal: no unsuitable store content, even if purchases are allowed

Enable Age-Based Content Restrictions. If spending must also be blocked, enable Spending Restrictions alongside it; age filtering alone is not a payment block.

Goal: allow occasional purchases from a fixed amount

Use the Nintendo eShop card balance approach and explain the available balance to the child. Treat the card as a funding method, not as a replacement for account supervision or content restrictions. Reassess the balance whenever another card or payment method is added.

Goal: control Nintendo purchases and mobile purchases

Apply Nintendo Account restrictions for Nintendo eShop activity, then configure the phone or tablet’s own purchase controls for transactions made through that device. These are separate control surfaces.

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Questions parents frequently ask

Can I set a monthly Nintendo eShop spending limit?

Not with Nintendo’s documented Spending Restrictions setting. It disables purchases and auto-renewal options rather than accepting a monthly dollar amount. A Nintendo eShop card can provide a chosen available balance, but that is prepaid funding, not an automatic monthly cap.

Can Nintendo ask me to approve every purchase?

The documented setting does not provide a per-transaction approval workflow. Choose between blocking purchases with Spending Restrictions and making a specific balance available with an eShop card.

Does Age-Based Content Restrictions stop a charge?

No. It limits content visible in the Nintendo Switch eShop according to age. Enable Spending Restrictions when the goal is to stop purchases or auto-renewals.

Do I need the Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app?

Not to manage eShop purchase restrictions. Nintendo assigns those restrictions to the parent or guardian’s Nintendo Account family-group settings. The app remains useful for other controls such as play time and communication.

Does the restriction cover physical orders?

Nintendo’s description of Spending Restrictions includes Nintendo Store channels and physical orders, as well as Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch purchases. Use the account setting for the supervised account and follow the wording shown in your region.

Will it protect purchases made in a phone’s app store?

Do not assume so. Nintendo says smart-device app purchases require checking the device’s own settings. Configure the phone or tablet’s family and purchase controls separately.

Can I restrict one child without changing a sibling’s account?

Yes, select the specific supervised account in Family group. Because the setting is account-based, review each child account separately when multiple children use the family group.

Final checklist

• Parent or guardian account identified.
• Child account placed in the correct Nintendo family group.
• Child account supervised.
• Spending Restrictions enabled when the requirement is to block purchases.
• Age-Based Content Restrictions enabled separately when eShop visibility must be limited.
• Changes saved.
• Smart-device app-store controls reviewed separately.
• eShop card used only when a balance-based budget is intentional.
• Each Nintendo Account used by the child checked individually.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where are Nintendo Switch eShop purchase restrictions managed?

In the parent or guardian’s Nintendo Account Family group settings. They are not managed solely from the console’s general Parental Controls screen or the Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app.

What does Spending Restrictions block?

Nintendo describes it as disabling purchases and auto-renewal options on Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Store channels listed by Nintendo, including physical orders.

Is Spending Restrictions a monthly spending cap?

No. It is an on-or-off block, not a dollar allowance or per-purchase approval system.

What should I use if I want to give my child a fixed amount to spend?

Add a chosen amount to the child’s Nintendo Account with a Nintendo eShop card. The available balance can fund purchases, but the card does not configure parental controls.

Do age restrictions prevent purchases?

No. Age-Based Content Restrictions limit eShop content visibility according to the player’s age. Use Spending Restrictions to block transactions.

Why can’t I find the child’s account?

The child must be in the correct Nintendo Account family group and set up as a supervised account. Use a parent or guardian account to complete that setup before applying purchase restrictions.

Do Nintendo Account restrictions cover phone app-store purchases?

Not necessarily. Nintendo directs parents to check the smart device’s own settings for purchases made through a smart-device app or unrelated app store.

Can I restrict one child but not another?

Yes. Select each supervised child account separately in Family group and apply the desired settings to that account.

The Bottom Line

To stop Nintendo Switch game purchases, sign in to the parent or guardian Nintendo Account, open Family group, select the child’s supervised account, enable Spending Restrictions and save. Add Age-Based Content Restrictions separately if eShop visibility also needs limits. Nintendo does not offer a monthly cap or per-purchase approval through this setting; use a Nintendo eShop card for a chosen balance, and configure phone or tablet app-store controls independently.

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