How to set up parental controls on your Virgin TV

Restrict the programmes and channels viewed through your Virgin TV box using PIN-protected parental controls. Find setup instructions for each TV box below.


Your Virgin Media TV PIN

To set up parental controls on your Virgin TV you'll need your four-digit PIN code – automatically set as 1234 when you first set up the TV box. You'll be asked to enter this when trying to watch the following:

  • Programmes rated 12, before 8pm

  • Programmes rated 15, before 9pm

  • Programmes rated 18, before 10pm

  • Channels and Apps you’ve chosen to lock

  • Any adult channels

  • Recordings from after the watershed, if being viewed before 9pm

For improved security, we recommend changing the default PIN to something less obvious as soon as you can. Instructions for how to do this are below.


How to change your Virgin TV PIN

Use the dropdowns below to find your Virgin TV box and instructions on how to change our 1234 default PIN to something more memorable for you.

  1. Press Home on the remote 

  2. Select Help & Settings  

  3. Select Parental Controls  

  4. Enter the current or default PIN 

  5. Select Change PIN 

  6. Then follow the on-screen instructions  

  1. Press Home on the remote  

  2. Select Settings (the “gear” symbol) 

  3. Select Parental Controls  

  4. Select Change PIN 

  5. Enter PIN 

  6. Then follow the on-screen instruction 


How to reset your Virgin TV PIN

Forgotten your Virgin TV PIN? Try entering 1234 first. If this doesn’t work, don’t worry, you can resent your PIN using the instructions for each TV box below:  

  1. Press Home on the remote  

  2. Select Help & Settings  

  3. Select Help  

  4. Select TV Care  

  5. Then Reset My PIN  

  1. Press Home on the remote  

  2. Select Settings (the “gear” symbol) 

  3. Select Parental Controls 

  4. Select Forgot your PIN?  

  5. Then follow the on-screen instructions  


How to customise your parental controls

Choose exactly what content you’d like to restrict and set your parental controls to suit you and your household.

Did you know you can put a PIN lock in place for buying content? This means when someone in your household goes to purchase something they’ll be required to enter your Virgin TV PIN.

How to do this on a TiVo® or a V6 box:

  1. Press Home on the remote

  2. Select Help & Settings

  3. Select Purchase Controls

  4. Enter your PIN

  5. Select Allow purchases with a PIN or Require a PIN to purchase

How to do this on a TV 360 or Stream box: 

  1. Press Home on the remote  

  2. Select Settings (the “gear” symbol) 

  3. Select Parental Controls 

  4. Select Set PIN for Payments 

  5. Enter your PIN to enable the setting 

*Please be aware this feature is on our TiVo® and V6 boxes only. 

  1. Press Home on the remote  

  2. Select Help & Settings  

  3. Select Parental Controls  

  4. Enter your PIN  

  5. Select Hide Adult Channels  

  6. Select Hide Adult Channels again  

To view an adult channel, you’ll need to unhide the Adult Channels first. Access to Adult channels requires a PIN at any time of day. 

Looking to restrict access to one or more specific channels?  

How to lock of unlock channels on a TiVo® or a V6 box: 

  1. Press Home on the remote 

  2. Select Help & Settings 

  3. Select Parental Controls 

  4. Enter your PIN 

  5. Select Lock channels 

  6. Highlight the channel 

  7. Press OK on the remote 

  8. Go to Use these settings 

  9. Press OK 

How to lock of unlock channels on a TV 360 or Stream box: 

  1. Press Home on the remote  

  2. Select Settings (the “gear” symbol) 

  3. Select Parental Controls 

  4. Select Lock Channels 

  5. Enter PIN if required 

  6. Then follow the on-screen instructions to select channels you wish to lock or unlock 

Don't want to be asked for your PIN when playing a recording from MyShows? You can switch off the PIN requirement for this (except with Stream) by doing the following: 

If you have a TiVo® or V6 box: 

  1. Press Home on the remote 

  2. Select Help & Settings 

  3. Select Parental Controls 

  4. Enter your PIN 

  5. Select Request a PIN to Watch Recordings 

  6. Select Do not request a PIN 

If you have a TV 360 box: 

  1. Press Home on the remote  

  2. Select Settings (the “gear” symbol) 

  3. Select Parental Controls 

  4. Select Watershed recordings PIN 

  5. Enter your PIN to turn off 

You may still be required to enter a PIN for some non-watershed recordings, or movies that have a 12+ rating.  


How to turn off parental controls for TV apps 

With our Virgin TV boxes you get access to a range of Apps and Games which you can lock using your PIN code. To do this, simply follow the steps below.  

If you have a TiVo® or V6 box: 

  1. Press Home on the remote 

  2. Select Help & Settings 

  3. Select Parental Controls 

  4. Enter your PIN 

  5. Select Lock Apps & Games 

  6. Choose an App or Game and select one of the following: 

a. Blocked – No one can access the app and it will not be shown on your Virgin TV. 

b. Locked – You’ll have to enter your Virgin TV PIN before accessing this app. 

c. Unlocked – Anyone can access this app.  

If you have a TV 360 box: 

  1. Press Home on the remote  

  2. Select Settings (the “gear” symbol) 

  3. Select Parental Controls 

  4. Select Lock Apps 

  5. Enter your PIN  

  6. Follow the on-screen instructions to choose apps you wish to lock or unlock  

Some apps, like Netflix, will also come with their own parental control settings. Simply sign into your account to view your options.  

You'll be asked if you want to set up a Parental Guidance Lock the first time you select a guidance-labelled show on BBC iPlayer. 

When setting up, you’ll be asked to create a 4-digit PIN, which you’ll need to enter any time you want to watch guidance-labelled programming on the app. To keep things simple, we recommend you use your Virgin TV PIN for this too. 

To turn off Parental Guidance Lock: 

  1. Go to the Settings menu in BBC iPlayer 

  2. Select Parental Guidance 

  3. Enter your PIN again to turn off the lock 

Forgotten your BBC iPlayer PIN? If you forget your PIN, you'll need to remove the parental guidance lock and then set it up again. 

You can control what content is accessible through Netflix on the Virgin TV box by setting up a Netflix PIN. To do this: 

  1. Sign in to your Netflix account 

  2. Select Parental Controls 

  3. Enter your Netflix account password 

  4. Create a 4-digit PIN 

  5. Set your viewing restriction level 

  6. Click Save 

When set up, the Netflix PIN will be applied to your Netflix account on all other devices. The PIN must be entered to watch any content rated above the viewing restriction level you selected when you set up your PIN. 

Changing or resetting your Netflix PIN: 

  1. Sign in to your Netflix account 

  2. Select Parental Controls 

  3. Update your PIN 

Turning off your Netflix PIN: 

  1. Log in to your Netflix account 

  2. Select Parental Controls 

  3. Change the viewing restriction level to the highest setting 

This will allow you to watch any title of any rating without entering a PIN. 

With Prime Video, you can set up a parental control PIN for programming and purchases. 

To do this: 

  1. Sign in to your Amazon Prime account 

  2. Under Parental Controls, select the content you want to restrict using the slider 

  3. Select View/Edit PIN and then create a 4-digit PIN 

  4. Under Apply Parental Controls to the following devices, check the relevant Virgin TV box 

  5. Click Save 

You'll need to enter your PIN before viewing any content rated at or above your chosen parental control level, or when making purchases. Content that requires a PIN will be marked with a padlock icon on the browsing screen. 

By default, Vevo restricts access to videos that may be of a sensitive nature or are labelled as Explicit. 

To manage access to Explicit Content, you need to have a Vevo account. If you don't have one already, you can create one on the Vevo website. 

The first time you play a video rated as Explicit Content on your box, you'll be asked to Activate Vevo. You'll need to activate the Vevo app on each Virgin TV box separately. 

To do this: 

  1. Go to Settings on the Vevo App 

  2. Select Activate Device 

  3. Go to vevo.com/activate using a desktop, tablet or mobile device 

  4. Sign in to your Vevo account or create one 

  5. Enter the unique activation code displayed on-screen into the Vevo website 

You’ll now be able to toggle the Block Explicit content option on the app. 

You can lock or block the YouTube app on your Virgin TV box using the instructions in the Lock Apps & Games section above. You can also restrict the content shown on the YouTube app. When you open YouTube for the first time, Restricted Mode is Enabled by default. This hides any potentially mature content. 

You can change this by doing the following: 

  1. Select Settings from the menu 

  2. Select Restricted Mode 

  3. Choose Disabled 

For more information on Parental Controls, check out the YouTube Safety Centre’s Parent resources. 

You can lock or block YouTube Kids on your Virgin TV box using the instructions in the Lock Apps & Games section above. 

ITV Hub will ask for a PIN when you try to play any programme with a ‘G’ rating. Shows displaying ‘G’ symbol may have been first shown on TV after the 9pm watershed or it may contain some language, violence, sexual scenes, nudity, adult humour or other material that you may not want your kids to watch. 

 ITV Hub will ask you to enter your 4-digit Virgin TV PIN when you try to play any programme with a ‘G’ rating. 

You’ll need to enter your 4-digit Virgin TV PIN any time you select a programme that carries a guidance warning.  

With the All 4 app, you can set a PIN to restrict access to mature content. Restrictions can be set at the following levels: 

  • All rated content (16+ years of age only) 

  • 18 rated content only (18+ years of age only) 

You can set up your PIN in the All 4’s app Settings. Simply create a 4-digit PIN and select your preferred level of protection. To make things easier, we recommend you use the same PIN you set up on your box. 

The All 4 PIN is linked to the Virgin TV box, not the account. When you set up a PIN on a specific TV box, it will remain in place regardless of who logs in. 

To remove a PIN, contact Channel 4 and fill out the online form. Channel 4 will then let you know how to remove your PIN. 

With the My5 app, you can set up parental controls to restrict access to programming with guidance warnings.  

You can set parental controls in the My5’s app Settings. Simply create a 4-digit PIN. To make things easier, we recommend you use the same PIN you set up on the Virgin TV box.  

You can lock or block MTV Play on your Virgin TV box using the instructions in the Lock Apps & Games section above. 

You can lock or block Pluto TV on your Virgin TV box using the instructions in the Lock Apps & Games section above.