Beginner
Intermediate
AdvancedThe following is a guide to creating a Playstation Network (PSN) account for an under-age person (minor/child; generally under 18 years old). A master account is required before creating any sub-accounts. These articles may be helpful before you start:
1. Create new user
If you haven’t already done so you will need to create a new PS3 user that the sub-account is going to be assigned to.
2. Authorise creation of sub-account
A Master account must be used to authorise that a Sub Account be created. Once the consent is given, a code is emailed to the master account and the remainder of the sign-up process is done through the “Playstation Store for PC” website.
We recommend that you also authorise using the PS Store website. However: not all countries are available when signing up via the PS Store as are available via the PS3 (we have no idea why not…). Check our list of supported countries.
Proceed to:
2A. Authorise via PS Store for PC
- Go to the Playstation Store for PC New Account page (open in new window)
- Choose Continue
![[Screenshot]](/images/search_16.gif)
- Choose your country, language and date of birth
- You will be told that you do not meet the eligibility requirements for creating an account and that a parent or legal guardian (master account) is needed to help create the account. Choose Continue
- Enter the email and password of the Master Account that will be associated with the new sub-account
- Choose Continue to “We must have your consent to collect your child’s personal information and to share that information with third parties so that your child can access online services and content on Playstation Network. PSN will send an email to the master account’s email address. Check the email and follow instructions to complete the sub-account registration” (paraphased)
- You will now be told that an email has been sent to the master account’s email address. Choose Continue
- Jump to section 3: Continue registration
![[Screenshot]](/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/a01-start-registration-process.png){kind=small}
![[Screenshot]](/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/a02-enter-info.png){kind=small}
![[Screenshot]](/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/a03-eligibility-requirements.png){kind=small}
![[Screenshot]](/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/a04-enter-master-signin.png){kind=small}
![[Screenshot]](/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/a05-consent-required.png){kind=small}
![[Screenshot]](/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/a06-email-sent.png){kind=small}
2B. Authorise via PS3
- Log in to the user you are creating an account for. Go to the Playstation Network menu and choose Sign up for Playstation Network
- When the account sign-up page appears, choose Yes, I want to create a new account
- On the registration process page, choose Continue
- Choose your country, language and date of birth
- You will be told that a parent or legal guardian (master account) is needed to help create the account. Choose Continue
- Enter the email and password of the Master Account that will be associated with the new sub-account
- Choose Continue to confirm that the master account will be associated and can control the sub-account
- Choose Continue to “We must have your consent to collect your child’s personal information and to share that information with third parties so that your child can access online services and content on Playstation Network. PSN will send an email to the master account’s email address. Check the email on your PC and follow instructions to complete the sub-account registration” (paraphased)
- You will now be told that an email has been sent to the master account’s email address and that you will need to continue the registration on a PC. Choose Continue
- Jump to section 3: Continue registration
![[Screenshot]](/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/01-sign-up-for-psn.jpg){kind=small}
![[Screenshot]](/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/02-account-signup.jpg){kind=small}
![[Screenshot]](/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/03-registration-process.jpg){kind=small}
![[Screenshot]](/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/04-enter-info.jpg){kind=small}
![[Screenshot]](/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/05-eligibility-requirements.jpg){kind=small}
![[Screenshot]](/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/06-master-account-info.jpg){kind=small}
![[Screenshot]](/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/07-master-confirmation.jpg){kind=small}
![[Screenshot]](/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/07b-consent.jpg){kind=small}
![[Screenshot]](/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/07c-email-sent.jpg){kind=small}
3. Continue registration
- Open the email titled “PLAYSTATION(R)Network Account Registration for a Child” and go to the Web site for account registration URL
- Type, or copy & paste, the code from the email into the Enter code form field. Tick the consent box, then click Continue
- You should now be told “Email verification successful”. Click Continue
- Click Continue to accept the terms of service and privacy policy
- Enter new sign-in information for the child: a valid email address (sign-in ID) and password
- Enter an online ID for your child. This will be a publicly viewable username and can not be edited later
- Enter your child’s information: first name, surname and residential address (the address should be auto-populated from the master account details)
- Review the account information, then click Confirm
- The new sub-account should now be created!
- Log in as your child on your PS3, go to the Playstation Network menu, choose Signup/Sign-in and try out the new account
![[Screenshot]](/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/301-enter-code.png){kind=small}
![[Screenshot]](/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/302-verification-successful.png){kind=small}
![[Screenshot]](/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/303-association.png){kind=small}
![[Screenshot]](/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/304-enter-child-sign-in-information.png){kind=small}
![[Screenshot]](/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/305-create-online-id.png){kind=small}
![[Screenshot]](/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/306-enter-childs-information.png){kind=small}
![[Screenshot]](/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/307-confirm-account-info.png){kind=small}
![[Screenshot]](/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/308-account-created.png){kind=small}
i can’t recieve the sub account email. what shall i do.
please help me to create a sub account i have tried several times and it will not work can u help me.
Barry Hynes,
Thanks.
i dont know how to create a sub account will u tell me please!!!!!
because it is doing my head in
ill try to make a new sub account but if it dont work ill set my ps3 on fire
when i got code it did not work when i type it in
This is Not Correct! When you get to the page explaining you dont “meet the eligibility requirements” there is no option to Continue (using a parents account)…..its just not there! I have PS3 HATE IT…………HHHHAAAATTETTETEET
When you get to the page explaining you dont “meet the eligibility requirements” there is no option to Continue (using a parents account)…
Did anyone solve this problem of no option to create a sub-account? Is it a software glitch?
I set up one sub account for one child, then 2 months later, there is no option to set up a sub account for 2nd child. Very annoying. Don’t want to change their age to 18 in account set up. Why is there no option for this 2nd sub account?
this seems to be an old post gary. im having the same problem. there used to be a sub account option but its all changed since recent software updates.
i have created a master account for myself and a sub account for my son that all went ok. the problem started when my son tryed to play online and he could not sign in kept getting a message 2 you can not sign in using another persons email address” he was using his own. if i goto the sony site he can sign in using his own email and password and it will display his online id say he is logged in. so if it works ok online why wont it work on the PS3 . any help would be greatly recived or have sony gone completely mad??????
I’ve created a master account with my details and a sub account for my son (who’s 11). He signs in with that. Trouble is, the age restriction (because of his date of birth) wont allow online games – not even Tiger Woods golf!
Why such rediculous restrictions? Why can’t I authorise which games are allowed through at least?
Now I guess I have to create another sub account for him and lie about the date of birth – probably have issues there though since the email id login will then clash…
I swear to God, had I known Sony was this ageist before I bought my PS3, I would have never in a million year had bought it. There is actually no way for any person under the age of 18 to create there own account. Sony is extremely lucky the PS3 has no piracy, cause I refuse to support these scumbags to the point that I would just pirate games for the system.
It does seem daft. As said, my son was unable to play Tiger Woods golf online purely because of his age – the game is listed as a 3+, he’s 11…
I ended up creating a new, full account for him, he’s now the same age as me. I’ll monitor and control his use myself since Sony seem unable to manage it in any sort of reasonable or logical way…
Im getting REALLY fed up of trying to set up a sub account for my son. I have tried everything we have read by people in forums and from sony sites and manuals and it just isnt working!!!! Everytime i put in my sons date of birth it says he isnt eligable for an account but it then doesnt show a continue button like it is supposed to so that i can get a verification code sent to me via email to finish the setting up of the sub account. My son is getting very upset by it all now!!!!!!!
When I created the sub account it wouldn’t allow the process to continue until I first linked it to an existing master account. I.e. I had to exit out of the process (close and re-open the browser since it insisted on caching the form details) then created the master in my name before going back and creating the sub account for him.
As said though, turned out to be a wasted exercise since Sony decide what my son can access, not me. I.e. he can’t have access to online functionality of 3+ rated game… So I ended up creating another master account for him and used my dob.
Hi Andrew, I’ve set up a master account for myself and then read these problems, especially yours. I’m going to go down the route of setting up a new master account for my son, it’s his PS3 when all said and done and I don’t want him to be restricted as far as you have mentioned. How did you set a new master account. Can I delete mine? Thanks, I’m desperate!!
Hi lesley,just read yor comment. U can delet yors but u just set up a new master account for yor son like u did for yors but u will have to lie about his date of birth as u can only set up a master account for 18 and over. U can still restrict some of his usage by setting the parental restrictions under the ps3 settings, hope this helped.
Guys I have the censoring problem with my son. There appears to be be way to take control of what the kids can play online. totally unacceptable. all the new account options mean the kid will loose all their friends and trophy’s and history – everything. anyone tried writing to sony psn and asking them to change their account dob?
Yep, it seems the only way to allow online game access is to do the filtering yourself manually (i.e. checking what they are doing and allowed to play, which is fine with me) and that means creating a full master account for your child and, as said, this can only be done if their dob gives them an age of 18 or over. My son now was born on the same date as me…
One thing to bear in mind if you are creating a new account is, as geds mentioned, saved online trophies, friends etc. are recorded against the online account so these will be lost to the new account (could keep them both though if you wanted)
Thankfully, my son had only had his a few days before I made the decision to scrap his old account and go with a new one so there wasn’t much to lose.
Other issues you may come across though are that to setup the new account you need another unique ID and since the id is an email address you need to have access to another (at least temporarily). I have several (about 5 or so I think) with my ISP so I could switch him to another. I first changed the email of his first, sub account to one of the spares and then created the new account with his original but obviously you need access to those accounts to confirm the change emails that come through in between the process.
One that is done you’ll need to create another user profile on the PS3 and then link that to the new online account (I couldn’t see a way to change the association between the machine user profile and the online profile – you can change the network login details but it’ll then inform you that you can’t logon with someone elses account details). You can edit the names for the PS3 machine user accounts so I just renamed the first one to something else first before creating the new one with the original name.
Finally, if you use the game data options you can copy most games saves over from one user profile to the other (not all games will allow this though) so you wont have to start all things from scratch (he’d already completed Star Wars Force Unleashed – thankfully that copied across fine so he had access to all the saves in the new profile). You can then delete the old user profile if you wish or leave it there – can also set one of them (e.g. the new one) as the default one that is logged in.
He only had his for Christmas but I was forced to get up to speed with ‘supporting’ it pretty quick I guess!
to create a subaccount you have to make sure your email which is your sign in id is a valid one. if not go to account management go to email address you’ll then have to type in your password once youve don that you can change your email address to a valid one
Except that if the original email wasn’t valid then you wouldn’t have received the confirmation email to activate it.
Well this whole account bull will stop nothing. I just came out of ps3 home 10 year old dancing on the bar at sully’s in a mini skirt.I play call of duty 4 where KIDS!!!!are on the mic 8,9,10 and younger screaming being loud. and when you tell them there under the rated game age there parents get on the mic no joke!!! and(my kid can play this game go grow up and stop picking on my son he’s only 8).This is one of a hundrend kids on accounts set up by there parents.The amount of people on grand theft auto4 that are children is amazing.account… sub account lol try again. I was in ps3 home where an MOD was telling me to watch the content of what I was saying. As this is going on the person I was talking to in the first place is cracking up cause these kids text in the same window was mother xxxxxx axxxxxxx and xxxxx
I made a sub account for my little brother but he cant play fifa 09 online can some one help me with this
Nope, the EA online stuff won’t allow a sub account because of the age, he’ll need to have a full master account. That’s the trouble I started with, my son couldn’t play Tiger Woods online so had to create a master account with my dob for him.
Oh please can anybody help me how do I create a master account what is a master account anyway?
Master account is a main account and requires a date of birth resulting in an age over 18. See my post above dated 16th January.
Totally ridiculous from Sony, I have a six year old who wants her own account just for little big planet. I can’t even get past the age check with no option to continue like it should in the many support pages. Surely I’m creating the sub account so “I” can monitor her use. Lieing about her age just defeats the purpose of what it was intended for and now gives her unrestricted use should I not be about.
Rubbish Idea.
To Neil,
we had the same prob, the only way to get round it is to make your childs date of birth to aged 7. We added a few months onto our sons sub account details so that it was still a sub account and he can play games while we can still moniter him. Sony must just think only kids aged 7 and over play consoles!!!! He can now play Little Big Planet. Hope that helped.
IS IT FREE TO MAKE A MASTER ACOUNT
Yes it is free.
I’m having a great deal of trouble, my sub account can’t access the online play for a game I downloaded, what can I do? The game is only online play!
My mother created a master account and then tried to make a sub account for me but all it says is “email cannot be used” umm why not?!
The emails need to be unique per account since that effectively identifies them.
i am trying to make a second account but everytime i go to play online it says parental control restrictions what do i do how do i fix it where i can play online like my first account
Did you ever find a solution? I have been getting the same message. I have one son who is the master account he can play online but the other son who is the sub account cannot.
i can’t recieve the sub account email. what shall i do.
Well the creation of a sub account is such pain that I am just going to create master accounts for my 2 sons. It is laughable that Sony have made it so un-user friendly. If I had know what hassle it would be to have a childs account linked to the master account I would not have bought a PS3 for my 2 sons for xmas.
Fail big time Sony, Oh and why the hell the need for a seperate email address for every account it’s BS. How the hell can a 4 year old have a seperate email. And as for being forced to agree to the sharing of childs details, Well sony, thats perverse and completely wrong.
Sub Accounts – can’t use master account email address. Sony wants to be able to email my kid junk or something. I should have gone with xbox 360. How retarded.
i just got a ps3 and i want to sign-up for the psn and i get to the sign-in ID and password how do i get a password that will work so i can move on to the next steps
https://store.playstation.com/accounts/register/beginNewAccountRegistrationFlow.action
Follow the instructions. Create Master Account.
Have created a subaccount for my daughter but when she tries to sign in to Playstation Network using her email address and password we keep getting message saying You cannot sign in using another users sign in id. Help!!!!
It sounds like you are trying to use more than one PSN account on the same PS3 User. You will need to create another User and sign in with the sub-account.
Game Console. On th XMB(xrosss media bar). Left side. Choose ‘Sign Up To PSN’. Go to “Use Existing Account”. Enter
the sign in details of the subaccount.
THANK YOU! Been trying to figure this out for days!
You know, if you have any problems setting up your PSn account I suggest you call Sony and tell them your problem and they will help. My friend works for them and he is always telling me people seem to try to avoid every possible opportunity to call when a 15 minute call usually resolves their concern.
Happy PSNing!!!
What a dreadful proces. Sony should be ashamed. I have spent 2 hours trying to set up a sub account and failed. Why do you need different e mail accounts for master and sub accounts?
This is my stupid. I bought my own PS3, and I’m 15. I made a subaccount, but I can’t play with it online cause of some parental restrictions. Therefore, I’m forced to play on my Master account with a false date of birth. I’m born 1994, but I had to put in year 1991.
It’s stupid how Sony made it so un-userfriendy, especially for children. Come on, I bought it for MY own money.