Articles on: iPhone and iPad

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 device instead, you can find out how to do so by clicking this link.

Important information

IMPORTANT: 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, where locking down Safe Surfer protection is officially supported by Samsung's device features.

This app tool is not supported by Apple. Safe Surfer is not responsible for any data loss or damage regarding the device you attempt to supervise. Before attempting to supervise an iPhone or iPad, please perform a device backup before attempting to supervise it. 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 supervision 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. Due to the supervision process, the device wallpaper might be reset, but it can be changed back later.

If any Apple Screen Time settings have already been applied to the device you want to supervise, they will not take effect after the supervision process due to how iPhone and iPad devices work. To help mitigate this, please turn off any applied settings on the device itself (inside the Settings app > Screen Time) and confirm that the changes have taken effect. With regard to re-enabling Apple Screen Time settings, we will link to further instructions at the bottom of this guide.

We recommend checking if any SIM cards / eSIMs being used by this device are currently locked with a SIM PIN. If this is the case (and you don't turn this off now), the SIM PIN will have to be entered later, otherwise you won't be able to use the SIM plan and its phone number. Due to this, it's a good idea to make sure that any SIM cards / eSIMs are unlocked before proceeding. You can find out more by clicking this link.

In addition, if you haven't already checked for VPN apps on this device, we recommend doing so now. This will help make sure that Safe Surfer can work uninterrupted. (Once you have completed this guide, VPN apps will be unable to create new connections.) You can check if any VPNs are installed by navigating to the Settings app main menu > General > VPN & Device Management > VPN. Inside the VPN menu, if you see any unwanted VPN connections listed, you can remove them by going back to the device's Home Screen > navigate to the App Library (that is, browse through the Home Screen pages until you reach the App Library) > tap the search bar at the top to search for each VPN app (where you can then long-tap an applicable app in the search results > Delete App > Delete).

Getting started

Before we get started, you'll need the following to proceed:

A Windows laptop or desktop.
A genuine Apple USB cable. This guide might 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). The printing should read something like the following: "Designed by Apple in California Assembled in [country] A1B2C3D4E5F6".
Your child's iPhone/iPad unlock passcode.
Your child's Apple Account (iCloud) password, which is different to the unlock passcode.
You might also need your child available for Face ID / Touch ID verification.

If you haven't already installed the Safe Surfer app on the iPhone/iPad you want to supervise, you'll first need to do this by clicking this link.

Step 1: Visit the Safe Surfer dashboard

Visit the Safe Surfer dashboard (https://my.safesurfer.io), then click the Devices menu on the left-hand sidebar. Click the title of the applicable device.

Click the Lockdown button at the upper-right corner.

There are two options available:

App blocking, which lets you have full control over individual apps.
Prevent uninstallation, which lets you lock the protection installation.

Once you've selected an option, click the Next button at the lower-right corner.

Review the following information:

If you selected the app blocking path, the Safe Surfer dashboard will prompt you to prepare Safe Surfer on the iPhone/iPad—we'll show you what to do next.
If you selected the prevent uninstallation path, click the Next button on the "Before you start" section, then skip to step 2.

Continuing with the app blocking path, open the Safe Surfer app on the phone to be supervised.

Tap the Enter PIN option, then tap the PIN field to enter your PIN.

On the Protection menu, scroll down to the Lockdown section, then tap the "App blocking" menu.

Tap the "Prepare for app blocking" option.

On the prompt that appears, tap the Prepare button.

On the next prompt that appears, tap the Continue button.

On the card that appears, tap the Allow with Face ID (or Allow with Touch ID) button. (If you subsequently attempt to authenticate with Face ID / Touch ID, it should then give you an option to authenticate with the device passcode.)

Once Safe Surfer has been approved, tap the Done button.

Safe Surfer should now report that it has been prepared for the app blocking setup.

Step 2: Turn off iCloud Private Relay and Find My

To supervise an iPhone/iPad, you will need to turn off iCloud Private Relay (if applicable), along with temporarily turning off Find My.

IMPORTANT: The supervision process will disable the iCloud Private Relay feature, but for technical reasons, you should also make sure that it's turned off if the device user has an iCloud+ subscription. You can check this by navigating to the Settings app main menu > tap the Apple account at the top > iCloud. Scroll down and see if you can find the Private Relay menu (which should be present if the device user has an iCloud+ subscription). If the feature is turned on, tap the Private Relay menu > turn off the switch for Private Relay > tap the Turn Off Private Relay option. Once you've finished checking, you can proceed with the following instructions.

To disable Find My, open the Settings app.

Tap the Apple account 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 & Passcode (or Touch ID & Passcode) > enter the device passcode > Stolen Device Protection > turn off Stolen Device Protection, which might require Face ID / Touch ID authentication from your child. (If the device is not in a known location, there is a one hour duration for turning off Stolen Device Protection.) Once you've done this, you can navigate to the Settings app main menu > tap the Apple account at the top > Find My > Find My [iPhone/iPad] > turn off Find My [iPhone/iPad].

Enter the password of your child's Apple Account, then tap the Turn Off button.

Find My [iPhone/iPad] should now be turned off. You can now go to the device's home screen.

Back on the Safe Surfer dashboard, you can now tick the confirmation box and click the Next button.

Step 3: Prepare to supervise device

If you don't have the iTunes app installed, you will need to install it. If this is the case, click the link to visit the Microsoft Store page for the iTunes app. Otherwise, if you already have the iTunes app installed on this Windows device, skip ahead to step 4.

To proceed with installing iTunes, click the View in Store button, then download the iTunes app by clicking the Get button inside the Microsoft Store listing. Open the iTunes app once it has downloaded.

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 4: Supervise device

Back on the Safe Surfer dashboard, click the Download for Windows button.

Once the supervision tool has downloaded, click the folder icon next to the file download to open your Downloads folder.

If you're using Microsoft Edge, it might mention that the supervision tool "isn't commonly downloaded". You can resolve this by hovering over the download listing > click the three-dot button > Keep > click the down arrow icon on the Delete button > Keep anyway.

Open the supervision tool.

Once the supervision tool has opened, we'll need to connect the iPhone/iPad to your Windows device.

Leave the tool window open while we proceed to connect the iPhone/iPad.

Plug one end of the Apple USB cable into your Windows device.

Unlock the iPhone/iPad using its unlock passcode.

Plug the other end of the Apple USB cable into the iPhone/iPad.

After plugging in the cable, the iPhone/iPad should ask you for permission to trust your Windows device. Tap the Trust option.

If you don't see a prompt to trust the PC, it's likely already trusted. If you only see a prompt to allow access to photos and videos, this means that the iPhone/iPad hasn't detected the iTunes app on the Windows device (or Windows Update hasn't yet installed Apple moblie device drivers—this can happen if you've never plugged in an Apple mobile device to the Windows device). If this is the case, double-check that iTunes is installed and drivers are up-to-date. If iTunes is installed, try restarting your Windows device, open the supervision tool, and connect the cable again.

Enter your child's unlock 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 Lock Down button. After a short moment, the iPhone/iPad will restart.

IMPORTANT: Once you've clicked the Lock Down button, don't close out of the supervision tool or click any following button yet, as we will do 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.

Once the process has finished, unlock the iPhone/iPad and review the following:

If you selected the app blocking path, tap the Trust button on the prompt that appears > enter the unlock passcode > tap the Enroll this [iPhone/iPad] button > enter the unlock passcode. Once the device is on the Home Screen, you can click the Done button on the supervision tool, and then the Close button.
If you selected the prevent uninstallation path, tap the Trust button on the prompt that appears > enter the unlock passcode > unplug the cable from the iPhone/iPad > replug the cable > tap the Trust button on the prompt that appears > enter the unlock passcode > on the supervision tool, click the Done button > on the iPhone/iPad, tap the Close button on the prompt that appears > Settings app > Profile Downloaded > Install > enter the unlock passcode > Install > tap the Install button on the prompt that appears > tap the tick button at the upper-right corner > on the supervision tool, click the Close button.

Once you've reviewed the above, the Safe Surfer dashboard should report that the setup process has been completed.

Step 5: Turn on Find My

Review the following information:

If you selected the app blocking path, you won't be able to enable Find My or Stolen Device Protection due to the supervision design. (They can be enabled again if you later unsupervise the device.) You can now safely delete the supervision app tool from your Downloads folder. Please note that there are still additional important steps to complete with Apple Screen Time. Once you're ready, you will need to continue with step 2 of the iPhone/iPad stop uninstallation guide.
If you selected the prevent uninstallation path, you can now turn on Find My with the following instructions.

Continuing with turning on Find My, navigate to the Settings app main menu, then tap the Apple account 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 enabled. You can now navigate back to the Settings app main menu, and then return to the home screen. (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 & Passcode [or Touch ID & Passcode] > Stolen Device Protection > turn on Stolen Device Protection.)

IMPORTANT: You can now safely delete the supervision app tool from your Downloads folder. Please note that there are still additional important steps to complete with Apple Screen Time. Once you're ready, you will need to continue with step 2 of the iPhone/iPad stop uninstallation guide.

Updated on: 25/08/2026

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