How to Change Age on iPhone: Apple ID, Screen Time & More

Your iPhone ties age-related settings to several different systems — and which one you need to change depends entirely on what you're actually trying to fix. There's no single "age" field sitting in your iPhone's settings app. Instead, age information lives across your Apple ID account, Screen Time restrictions, and Family Sharing configurations. Each works differently, and each has its own update process.

Why Age Matters on an iPhone

Age affects more than you might expect on iOS. Apple uses the date of birth stored in your Apple ID to determine:

• Whether your account is treated as a standard adult account or a child account under Family Sharing
• Age-appropriate content restrictions in the App Store, Apple Music, and Apple TV+
• Whether parental consent is required for certain account changes
• Eligibility for certain features, like Apple Cash for kids

Screen Time uses age-related content settings separately — these are configurable independently of your Apple ID birthdate.

How to Change the Age (Date of Birth) on Your Apple ID

Your Apple ID date of birth is the most significant age setting tied to your iPhone. Changing it updates your information across all Apple services.

On iPhone:

1. Open Settings
2. Tap your name at the top (your Apple ID profile)
3. Tap Personal Information
4. Tap Birthday
5. Update the date and save

Via browser (appleid.apple.com):

1. Sign in at appleid.apple.com
2. Go to Personal Information
3. Select Birthday and edit

⚠️ One important caveat: Apple places restrictions on how often you can change your birthdate, and accounts flagged as child accounts (under 13 in most regions) have additional limitations. If your account is managed under Family Sharing as a child account, the family organizer may need to assist with changes.

Child Accounts and Family Sharing: A Different Process

If the account you're managing belongs to a child under your Family Sharing group, the process is more involved.

Child Apple IDs created through Family Sharing have their age locked more tightly. Apple requires that child accounts use a real date of birth, and the family organizer cannot simply edit the child's age freely — especially if the change would move the account from a child tier to an adult tier. Apple's verification requirements exist because child accounts have different privacy and safety protections under laws like COPPA (in the US) and similar regulations elsewhere.

For a child approaching adulthood (typically 18), the account will eventually gain full independence, but this transition happens based on the actual birthdate on file — not a manually adjusted one.

Changing Age-Related Content Restrictions in Screen Time 📱

Screen Time lets you set content and privacy restrictions that aren't directly tied to your Apple ID birthdate. These include:

• Content ratings — apps, movies, TV shows, books, and music
• Explicit content filters
• Web content filters (unrestricted, limit adult websites, or allowed websites only)

To adjust these:

1. Go to Settings → Screen Time
2. Tap Content & Privacy Restrictions
3. Enable restrictions if not already on
4. Tap Content Restrictions to set age-appropriate ratings per category

These settings are independent of your Apple ID birthdate. You can have an adult Apple ID but apply child-safe Screen Time restrictions, or vice versa. This is useful for parents managing a device used by multiple family members, or someone who wants tighter content controls for their own reasons.

When the Age Can't Be Easily Changed

There are a few situations where changing age information hits a wall:

• Child accounts under 13 (or the applicable age in your country) are more restricted. Apple won't let the age be changed in a way that circumvents child safety systems.
• If an account was created with an incorrect birthdate and it falls into the child tier, you may need to contact Apple Support directly to resolve the discrepancy with proper verification.
• Screen Time passcodes set by a family organizer will prevent a child from changing their own content restrictions — the organizer's credentials are required.

The Variables That Determine Your Situation 🔍

What "changing age on iPhone" actually means in practice depends on several factors:

• Who owns the Apple ID — you personally, a child on your family plan, or someone else
• How the account was created — directly by an adult or through Family Sharing as a child account
• What you're actually trying to change — the stored birthdate, content restrictions, or Family Sharing permissions
• Your iOS version — the location of certain settings menus has shifted across iOS 15, 16, and 17
• Whether a Screen Time passcode is active — this determines whether changes can be made independently or require an organizer

Each of these factors points toward a meaningfully different set of steps. Someone correcting an adult Apple ID birthdate has a straightforward path. Someone trying to adjust a locked child account managed under Family Sharing is working within a system designed to resist easy overrides — and for good reason.

Your specific combination of account type, device ownership, and what you're actually trying to accomplish determines which of these paths applies to you.