How to supervise and lock down protection on an iPhone or iPad (Windows)
This guide demonstrates how to supervise and lock down Safe Surfer protection on an iPhone or iPad with a Windows device. If you would like to do this with a Mac instead, you can find out how to do so by clicking this link.
Please read the following information before proceeding with the guide. If you are not comfortable with the potential risks involved, we strongly recommend switching the device user to a Samsung mobile device.
This app tool is not supported by Apple. Before attempting to supervise an iPhone or iPad device, please perform a device backup before attempting to supervise it. Safe Surfer is not responsible for any data loss or damage regarding the device you attempt to supervise. You cannot supervise a device that is not owned by you (for example, if the device is owned by a work or school organisation). Please read through the instructions slowly, as there are multiple steps where you could get lost, or issues that could otherwise take place. If you get stuck at any point (for example, if the supervison tool displays a progress error without specific instructions), try closing the tool and repeating the steps.
Before we get started, you'll need the following to proceed:
A Windows laptop.
A genuine Apple USB cable. This guide will not work if you use a cable that is not manufactured by Apple. You can verify that a cable is manufactured by Apple by checking for a serial number printed on the cable itself (which can be faint grey printing on one end of the cable). The printing should read, "Designed by Apple in California Assembled in [country] A1B2C3D4E5F6".
Your child's iPhone/iPad unlock passcode.
Your child's iCloud account password (which is different to the unlock passcode).
If you haven't already installed the Safe Surfer app on the iPhone/iPad device you want to supervise, you'll first need to do this by clicking this link.
To supervise an iPhone or iPad device, you will first need to temporarily turn off Find My.
Open the Settings app.
Tap the account section at the top.
Tap the Find My menu.
Tap the Find My [iPhone/iPad] menu.
Tap the Find My [iPhone/iPad] switch to turn it off.
If you see a message regarding the Stolen Device Protection feature, you can first disable this by navigating to the Settings app main menu > Face ID (or Touch ID) & Passcode > turn off Stolen Device Protection. If the device is not in a known location, there is a one hour duration for turning off Stolen Device Protection.
Enter the password of your child's iCloud account, then tap the Turn Off option at the upper-right corner.
Find My [iPhone/iPad] should now be turned off.
On the Safe Surfer dashboard, visit the Devices menu, then click the "More info" button on the applicable device listing.
Click the Prevent Uninstall button.
If you don't have the iTunes app installed, you will need to install it. Click the link to visit the Microsoft Store page for the iTunes app.
If you already have the iTunes app installed on this Windows PC, skip ahead to step 3.
Click the Download button.
Once the iTunes installer has downloaded, click the folder icon to open your Downloads folder.
Open the iTunes installer.
Click the Install button.
Read the iTunes Software Licence Agreement, then click the Agree button.
Select an option regarding library details.
Click the close button on the iTunes window.
Back on the Safe Surfer dashboard, click the Download for Windows button.
Once the supervision tool has downloaded, click the folder icon to open your Downloads folder.
Open the supervision tool.
Once the supervision tool has opened, we'll need to connect the iPhone/iPad device to the laptop.
Leave the tool window open while we connect the iPhone/iPad to your Windows device.
Plug one end of the Apple USB cable into your Windows PC.
Unlock the iPhone/iPad device using its unlock passcode.
Plug the other end of the Apple USB cable into the iPhone/iPad device.
After plugging in the cable, the iPhone/iPad device should ask you for permission to trust the device (that is, your Windows PC). Tap the Trust option.
If you don't see a prompt to trust the PC, it's likely already trusted. If you see a prompt to allow access to photos and videos, this means that the iPhone hasn't detected the iTunes app on your Windows PC. If this is the case, double-check that iTunes is installed. If iTunes is installed, try restarting your Windows device, open the supervision tool, and try connecting the cable again.
Attempt to verify with Touch ID (which will then give you an option to enter your child's unlock passcode).
Enter your child's passcode.
Click the Next button on the supervision tool.
Once you've confirmed that the supervision tool has detected the correct device, click the Yes button.
Click the Supervise Now button.
IMPORTANT: Once you've clicked the Supervise Now button, don't close out of the supervision tool or click the Done button that appears next, as we need this later.
After the device has restarted, press the Home button (or swipe the bar up if the device doesn't have a Home button).
Enter your child's unlock passcode. This might take a moment.
Due to the supervision process, the device wallpaper might be reset, which is normal. It can be changed later.
Once you've unlocked the device and reached the home screen, click the Done button on the supervision tool.
The supervision tool will take you to the Safe Surfer dashboard, where we can continue the lockdown process. As an option, you can first select the "Disable factory reset" setting, which will stop your child from being able to factory reset the device.
IMPORTANT: If you choose to enable the "Disable factory reset" feature and lose your Safe Surfer supervision profile password (for example, if you delete the iPhone/iPad device listing on the Safe Surfer dashboard), we cannot help you reset the device. Please use this setting with caution.
The supervision profile overwrites the protection profile installed by the Safe Surfer app (as the supervision profile contains additional lockdown features). Back on the iPhone/iPad device, tap the Camera app.
Hover over the QR code on the Safe Surfer dashboard, then tap the yellow tag.
Tap the Allow option on the prompt that appears.
Tap the Close option.
Open the Settings app.
Tap the Profile Downloaded menu.
Tap the Install option at the upper-right corner.
Enter your child's unlock passcode.
Tap the Install option at the upper-right corner.
Tap the Install button.
Tap the Done option at the upper-right corner.
The supervision profile has now been installed.
Go to the Settings main menu, then tap the account section at the top.
Tap the Find My menu.
Tap the Find My [iPhone/iPad] menu.
Tap the switch to turn on Find My [iPhone/iPad].
Find My has now been re-enabled.
If you turned off the Stolen Device Protection feature earlier on, you can now enable it again. You can do this by navigating to the Settings app main menu > Face ID (or Touch ID) & Passcode > turn on Stolen Device Protection.
IMPORTANT: If you want to supervise another iPhone/iPad device, you should restart your computer now. This makes sure that the supervision process will work correctly for further devices.
Great work! This device is now supervised and locked down. If you have any other iPhone or iPad devices you would like to supervise, restart your computer, and then start again from the top of the guide. If you would like to protect a different kind of device, visit our installation guides article.
Important information
Please read the following information before proceeding with the guide. If you are not comfortable with the potential risks involved, we strongly recommend switching the device user to a Samsung mobile device.
This app tool is not supported by Apple. Before attempting to supervise an iPhone or iPad device, please perform a device backup before attempting to supervise it. Safe Surfer is not responsible for any data loss or damage regarding the device you attempt to supervise. You cannot supervise a device that is not owned by you (for example, if the device is owned by a work or school organisation). Please read through the instructions slowly, as there are multiple steps where you could get lost, or issues that could otherwise take place. If you get stuck at any point (for example, if the supervison tool displays a progress error without specific instructions), try closing the tool and repeating the steps.
Getting started
Before we get started, you'll need the following to proceed:
A Windows laptop.
A genuine Apple USB cable. This guide will not work if you use a cable that is not manufactured by Apple. You can verify that a cable is manufactured by Apple by checking for a serial number printed on the cable itself (which can be faint grey printing on one end of the cable). The printing should read, "Designed by Apple in California Assembled in [country] A1B2C3D4E5F6".
Your child's iPhone/iPad unlock passcode.
Your child's iCloud account password (which is different to the unlock passcode).
If you haven't already installed the Safe Surfer app on the iPhone/iPad device you want to supervise, you'll first need to do this by clicking this link.
Step 1: Turn off Find My
To supervise an iPhone or iPad device, you will first need to temporarily turn off Find My.
Open the Settings app.
Tap the account section at the top.
Tap the Find My menu.
Tap the Find My [iPhone/iPad] menu.
Tap the Find My [iPhone/iPad] switch to turn it off.
If you see a message regarding the Stolen Device Protection feature, you can first disable this by navigating to the Settings app main menu > Face ID (or Touch ID) & Passcode > turn off Stolen Device Protection. If the device is not in a known location, there is a one hour duration for turning off Stolen Device Protection.
Enter the password of your child's iCloud account, then tap the Turn Off option at the upper-right corner.
Find My [iPhone/iPad] should now be turned off.
Step 2: Prepare to supervise device
On the Safe Surfer dashboard, visit the Devices menu, then click the "More info" button on the applicable device listing.
Click the Prevent Uninstall button.
Install iTunes
If you don't have the iTunes app installed, you will need to install it. Click the link to visit the Microsoft Store page for the iTunes app.
If you already have the iTunes app installed on this Windows PC, skip ahead to step 3.
Click the Download button.
Once the iTunes installer has downloaded, click the folder icon to open your Downloads folder.
Open the iTunes installer.
Click the Install button.
Read the iTunes Software Licence Agreement, then click the Agree button.
Select an option regarding library details.
Click the close button on the iTunes window.
Step 3: Supervise device
Back on the Safe Surfer dashboard, click the Download for Windows button.
Once the supervision tool has downloaded, click the folder icon to open your Downloads folder.
Open the supervision tool.
Once the supervision tool has opened, we'll need to connect the iPhone/iPad device to the laptop.
Leave the tool window open while we connect the iPhone/iPad to your Windows device.
Plug one end of the Apple USB cable into your Windows PC.
Unlock the iPhone/iPad device using its unlock passcode.
Plug the other end of the Apple USB cable into the iPhone/iPad device.
After plugging in the cable, the iPhone/iPad device should ask you for permission to trust the device (that is, your Windows PC). Tap the Trust option.
If you don't see a prompt to trust the PC, it's likely already trusted. If you see a prompt to allow access to photos and videos, this means that the iPhone hasn't detected the iTunes app on your Windows PC. If this is the case, double-check that iTunes is installed. If iTunes is installed, try restarting your Windows device, open the supervision tool, and try connecting the cable again.
Attempt to verify with Touch ID (which will then give you an option to enter your child's unlock passcode).
Enter your child's passcode.
Click the Next button on the supervision tool.
Once you've confirmed that the supervision tool has detected the correct device, click the Yes button.
Click the Supervise Now button.
IMPORTANT: Once you've clicked the Supervise Now button, don't close out of the supervision tool or click the Done button that appears next, as we need this later.
After the device has restarted, press the Home button (or swipe the bar up if the device doesn't have a Home button).
Enter your child's unlock passcode. This might take a moment.
Due to the supervision process, the device wallpaper might be reset, which is normal. It can be changed later.
Once you've unlocked the device and reached the home screen, click the Done button on the supervision tool.
The supervision tool will take you to the Safe Surfer dashboard, where we can continue the lockdown process. As an option, you can first select the "Disable factory reset" setting, which will stop your child from being able to factory reset the device.
IMPORTANT: If you choose to enable the "Disable factory reset" feature and lose your Safe Surfer supervision profile password (for example, if you delete the iPhone/iPad device listing on the Safe Surfer dashboard), we cannot help you reset the device. Please use this setting with caution.
Step 4: Install supervision profile
The supervision profile overwrites the protection profile installed by the Safe Surfer app (as the supervision profile contains additional lockdown features). Back on the iPhone/iPad device, tap the Camera app.
Hover over the QR code on the Safe Surfer dashboard, then tap the yellow tag.
Tap the Allow option on the prompt that appears.
Tap the Close option.
Open the Settings app.
Tap the Profile Downloaded menu.
Tap the Install option at the upper-right corner.
Enter your child's unlock passcode.
Tap the Install option at the upper-right corner.
Tap the Install button.
Tap the Done option at the upper-right corner.
The supervision profile has now been installed.
Step 5: Turn on Find My
Go to the Settings main menu, then tap the account section at the top.
Tap the Find My menu.
Tap the Find My [iPhone/iPad] menu.
Tap the switch to turn on Find My [iPhone/iPad].
Find My has now been re-enabled.
If you turned off the Stolen Device Protection feature earlier on, you can now enable it again. You can do this by navigating to the Settings app main menu > Face ID (or Touch ID) & Passcode > turn on Stolen Device Protection.
IMPORTANT: If you want to supervise another iPhone/iPad device, you should restart your computer now. This makes sure that the supervision process will work correctly for further devices.
Supervision complete
Great work! This device is now supervised and locked down. If you have any other iPhone or iPad devices you would like to supervise, restart your computer, and then start again from the top of the guide. If you would like to protect a different kind of device, visit our installation guides article.
Updated on: 31/03/2025
Thank you!