You set a daily limit in Family Link, and the phone is still in use long after it should have locked. Or you scheduled Downtime for 9pm and it never started, or keeps switching itself off. Or the screen time numbers in the parent app look nothing like what you saw. Each of these has a short list of causes, and most are settings that do exactly what they say, just not what you expected.
Start by working out which rule is failing: the daily limit, an app limit, Downtime or School time, or the screen time report. Then jump to the matching fix. Menu names vary a little between Family Link versions and phone makers.
1The Daily Limit Applies to Each Device
This is the one that surprises most parents. According to Google, the daily limit applies separately to each Android device or Chromebook your child uses. Set two hours, and a child with a phone and a tablet gets two hours on each. To you it looks like the limit was ignored; Family Link sees two devices that each stayed under it.
Fix
In the parent app, open your child's profile and look at the device list. Set the daily limit with every device in mind, or remove supervision from devices they no longer use so the list matches reality.
2The App They're Using Has Unlimited Time
Family Link lets you mark apps as Unlimited time (older versions called this always allowed). Those apps don't count toward the daily limit and keep working after it runs out. You can also choose to allow them during Downtime and School time. One entertaining app in that list, added for a car trip and forgotten, makes the whole limit look broken.
Fix
In the parent app, open Screen time, then review your child's app limits and remove Unlimited time from anything that isn't essential. Then check whether Unlimited time apps are allowed during Downtime and School time, and turn that off if you didn't mean it.
3App Limits and the Daily Limit Are Different Rules
An app limit caps one app, such as an hour of YouTube. It doesn't stop the phone, so your child can switch to another app when it runs out. The daily limit caps the whole device. And Google notes that system apps, some of the apps that came with the phone, can't be given time limits at all.
Fix
Use the daily limit for the overall cap and app limits for the one or two apps that matter most. If a built-in app is the problem, block it or limit an alternative instead, and see how kids get around Family Link for the usual side doors.
4Downtime Is Scheduled for the Wrong Days, or Someone Unlocked It
Downtime and School time are set as a weekly schedule, under Screen time, then Schedules. It is easy to set them for weekdays only, or to change one day and forget another. And if the phone is unlocked during Downtime, by you, by another parent in your family group, or with the parent access code, it can look as if Downtime keeps turning itself off.
Fix
Open Schedules and check the start and end times for every day of the week. Ask any other parent in the family group whether they unlocked the phone, and keep the parent access code screen out of your child's sight.
5The Rules Aren't Reaching the Phone
None of the limits work if the child's phone isn't getting them. An offline phone, Data Saver, aggressive battery optimization, or an outdated Google Play services can all leave the phone running old rules.
Fix
Press Lock on the device in the parent app. If it locks within a couple of minutes, syncing works and the cause is one of the settings above. If it doesn't, work through Family Link not syncing or locking the phone.
6The Date, Time or Time Zone Is Wrong
Limits and schedules follow the child's phone. Google stops the clock being changed while screen time limits are on, but a wrong time zone after travel, or a clock set before limits were turned on, shifts Downtime and moves the point where the day starts over.
Fix
On the child's phone, open Settings, then System, then Date & time, and turn on automatic date and time and automatic time zone.
7Screen Time Isn't Showing or Updating
If the parent app shows zero screen time, yesterday's figures, or numbers far below what you saw, the report is usually just behind. Activity reaches you only when the child's phone syncs, so an offline or sleeping phone reports late. The report also covers only supervised Android devices and Chromebooks, so time on an unsupervised tablet, a games console, or an iPhone doesn't appear.
Fix
Get the child's phone online and open Settings, then Google, then Parental controls on it to prompt a check-in. Then check that you're viewing the right device, and give it some time before deciding the numbers are wrong.
8Bonus Time Stacked Up
Bonus time adds minutes on top of today's limit without changing the limit itself. A few quick grants in one evening add up, and from the parent app it can look as if the limit simply didn't apply.
Fix
Check whether you or another parent granted bonus time today. If grants aren't arriving at all, see Family Link bonus time not working.
If the Limit Works but the Arguments Don't Stop
A limit that technically works still ends every evening the same way: a locked phone, then a request for more. Tap Guardian enforces the daily limit on the child's Android phone itself, so the countdown keeps running and the block still engages with no connection. Rule changes you make still need a connection to arrive, as with any app. Your child sees exactly how much time is left, and when they want more, they earn it by finishing tasks you approve, instead of arguing for it. It is free for 7 days, then $6.99/month or $49.99/year.
Final Thoughts
Most "Family Link time limit not working" cases are settings doing exactly what they say: a limit counted per device, an app with unlimited time, or a schedule missing a day. Check those first, then test syncing with a manual lock. If the parent app itself won't open, see Family Link app not opening. For the full list of Family Link failures, start at Google Family Link not working.
