Share via

Microsoft Family Safety not detecting device

June Grant 0 Reputation points
2026-05-09T06:56:45.6933333+00:00

I need help restoring my Microsoft Family Safety device connectivity for my son's Surface Pro laptop. It used to work and my daughter's laptop is connecvted so I do know how to do it.

The issue: he is correctly signed into windows with his Microsoft account; he is in my Family Safety group; the device appears in my Microsoft account devices; but Family Safety still shows "connect their device" and does not recognise the device.

I have tried removing ad re adding him to the family group. I have tried signing out and back into Windows. I have restarted the device many times, and waited up to 30 minutes for syncing.

The device is not completing Family Safety enrolment so I need help restoring and repairing the device connection. Please help!

Microsoft 365 and Office | Microsoft Family Safety | For home | Windows
0 comments

3 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. June Grant 0 Reputation points
    2026-05-14T07:03:24.6433333+00:00

    Thank you. When I type in schtasks /run /tn "Microsoft\Windows\Shell\FamilySafetyRefreshTask" it says the scheduled task schtasks /run /tn "Microsoft\Windows\Shell\FamilySafetyRefreshTask" could not run because it is disabled.

    Was this answer helpful?

  2. Norah-L 6,685 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-05-11T04:05:05.0733333+00:00

    Hello June Grant

    Based on what you described, your son’s Surface Pro appears to be signed in correctly with his Microsoft account and already shows under your Microsoft account devices, but Microsoft Family Safety is still not recognizing it as a connected child device and continues to show “connect their device.”

    In addition to what Q&A Assist suggested, you can also try the following additional steps:

    • From your son’s account on the Surface, go to Settings > Accounts > Verify and check if the account still needs to be verified. If there is no Verify option, open Microsoft Edge on that device and complete the account verification from the Family Safety verification page. Microsoft’s troubleshooting guidance and a recent resolved case suggest this can help the device finish linking to Family Safety.
    • You could also check Settings > Accounts > Your info on both the parent and child accounts to see whether Windows is showing any prompt to complete account information.
    • Also make sure his account on that Surface is still set as a Standard user, not Administrator.
    • If needed, on the child profile go to Settings > Accounts > Sync your settings, turn sync On, then select Sync now. After that, sign out of the child account, restart the PC, and sign back in with that same account before checking Family Safety again.

    Hope this could help. Please let me know how it goes on your device!

    If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

    Was this answer helpful?

  3. AI answer

    2026-05-09T06:57:01.2866667+00:00

    Follow these steps on the Surface Pro and in the Family group to restore the Family Safety connection, using only supported repair actions from the documentation.

    1. Confirm the account and Family group
      1. On the Surface Pro, make sure the Windows sign-in account is the same Microsoft account that appears as the child in the Family group.
      2. Go to https://account.microsoft.com/family and sign in with the organizer account.
      3. Verify the child shows as a member in the Family group and not as an organizer.
    2. Re‑apply limits (forces a refresh from the service side)
      1. In the Family group page, select the child.
      2. Remove any existing screen time limits and app/game limits.
      3. Re‑add the limits. This can clear glitches in how the service associates the device with the child account.
    3. Run the Family Safety refresh task on the Surface Pro If the device has stale or partially applied Family Safety settings, run the built‑in refresh task on that device:
      1. On the Surface Pro keyboard, press Windows key + R.
      2. Type cmd and select OK to open Command Prompt.
      3. In Command Prompt, enter: 
              schtasks /run /tn "Microsoft\Windows\Shell\FamilySafetyRefreshTask"
        then press Enter.
      4. Restart the Surface Pro.
      5. After restart, sign in with the child’s Microsoft account and leave the device powered on and online for a while so it can sync.
      6. Check again at https://account.microsoft.com/family → select the child → confirm whether the device now shows as connected instead of “connect their device”.
    4. Repeat the refresh on any other impacted devices If any other devices for this child show similar issues, repeat step 3 on each of those devices, as the refresh task must be run per device.

    If, after these steps, the Surface Pro still does not appear as connected in Family Safety while the account and group membership are correct, the next step is to remove any limits again, run the refresh task once more, restart, and then re‑apply limits to force another sync cycle.

    References:

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

    Was this answer helpful?

Your answer

Answers can be marked as 'Accepted' by the question author and 'Recommended' by moderators, which helps users know the answer solved the author's problem.