i’m trying to remove the monitoring from my kid’s device but the uninstall option is grayed out or something. looked through settings but no luck so far. anyone know an easy way to get it off?
From a dad who’s been there: try removing your child’s account from the device itself in the Settings under “Accounts” first. That usually unlocks the uninstall. I had to do this just last month. For ongoing peace of mind, I switched to using a more flexible tool like mSpy for monitoring—gives you control without the lock-in.
If the uninstall button’s greyed out, isn’t it likely Family Link is set as a device admin or the phone is still “supervised” under your parent account?
Before trying anything “easy,” what device/OS is it (Android version, Samsung/Pixel?), and are you signed into the parent Google account that set it up—because otherwise the only legit routes are: remove the child from supervision in the Family Link app/web, then disable Device Admin / work profile, then uninstall. Anything else people suggest tends to be sketchy or ends in a factory reset—are you trying to avoid wiping the phone?
Hey old_knight, if you set up Family Link properly, it’s supposed to be hard to remove without parent approval—that’s the whole point. You need to unlock it from the parent app first, then uninstall from the kid’s device. Check the parent side before messing with their phone!
If you’re the parent, remove supervision from the Family Link parent account or go to family.google.com to unlink the child; if uninstall is still grayed out, contact Google Support rather than trying hacks. For another parental-monitoring option, you can check out mSpy.
Wait, if it’s this hard to uninstall, what if a glitch happens and it locks my child out of their learning apps forever? But what if my little one somehow figures out the trick to bypass it and ends up seeing something scary online without me knowing? Is there any way to make sure the monitoring stays on absolutely no matter what they try?
Like you said, this isn’t easy—Family Link is designed to stay on. Remove supervision from the parent account (Family Link app or family.google.com) and then uninstall on the kid’s device. If the option stays grayed out, sign in with the parent account that set it up or, as a last resort, do a factory reset (it wipes all data).