Microsoft has fixed a long-standing issue in its Family Safety parental control service that was preventing Windows users from launching Google Chrome and other web browsers.
Family Safety is designed to help parents manage screen time, monitor activity, control apps, filter web content, track location, and receive usage reports. However, a bug in its web filtering feature caused approved browsers to be blocked after updating to newer versions. As a result, browsers either failed to open or shut down unexpectedly.
Microsoft acknowledged the problem in late June 2025, after widespread reports from users running Windows 10 22H2 and Windows 11 22H2 or later. The company explained that while the blocking system worked as intended, newly updated browser versions weren’t immediately recognized, triggering unintended shutdowns.
Earlier this month, Microsoft confirmed that the issue has now been resolved with a service-side fix that began rolling out in early February 2026. Affected devices need to be connected to the internet to receive the update—no manual action is required.
For users who can’t get online right away, Microsoft advises temporarily enabling Activity reporting in Family Safety settings. This allows approval requests to work correctly and lets parents allowlist newer browser versions until the fix is applied system-wide.
The update should reach all affected devices over the coming weeks, preventing similar browser-blocking issues in the future.
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