How to set up your Virgin Media TV PIN

Setting parental protection on your TV for adult content and in-box purchases is easy. Learn how to set up your Virgin Media PIN below. When you’ve got Virgin TV, with a Virgin TV 360, Virgin TV V6 or TiVo box, or Stream from Virgin Media then you have access to Apps and Games. Most of these apps come with their own parental control options and settings, and we’ve got some help on the most popular apps below. Please know that not all the apps listed are available on Stream.



What is my Virgin Media TV PIN code?

When you first set up the box, your Virgin Media default PIN will be set as 1234. You'll need to enter this to watch the following:

  • Programmes rated 12, before 8pm

  • Programmes rated 15, before 9pm

  • Programmes rated 18, before 10pm

  • Channels you’ve chosen to lock

  • Channels that broadcast shows rated PG-18 before 9pm

  • Any adult channels

We recommend changing it to something a little more difficult to crack right away.


How to change your TV box PIN

  1. Press Home on the remote

  2. Select Help & Settings

  3. Select Parental Controls

  4. Enter your current PIN

  5. Select Change PIN

  6. Follow the on-screen instructions

If you can’t remember your PIN, try entering 1234 first. If that doesn’t work, you can reset your PIN.

To do this:

  1. Press Home on the remote

  2. Select Help & Settings

  3. Select Help

  4. Select TV Care

  5. Select Reset My PIN

This will reset your PIN on all your Virgin TV boxes.


How to change the parental controls on a Virgin TV box?

You can turn your PIN on or off for each Virgin Media TV service, allowing you to personalise your parental controls. You can do this by simply following the instructions below.

  1. Press Home on the remote

  2. Select Help & Settings

  3. Select Purchase Controls

  4. Enter your PIN

  5. Choose Allow purchases without a PIN or Require a PIN to purchase

  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 will need to unhide the Adult Channels first.

  1. Press Home on the remote

  2. Select Help & Settings

  3. Choose 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

Don't want to be asked for your PIN when playing a recording from MyShows? You can turn it off by doing the following:

  1. Press Home on the remote

  2. Select Help & Settings

  3. Select Parental Controls

  4. Enter your current PIN

  5. Select Request a PIN to Watch Recordings

  6. Select Do not request a PIN

This will not apply to some movies that have a 12+ rating.


How to turn off parental control on Virgin Media TV

  1. Press Home on the remote

  2. Select Help & Settings

  3. Select Parental Controls

  4. Enter your PIN

  5. Select Request a PIN

  6. Tick Do not request a PIN

Please note that you won't be able to turn this off if you've got a Virgin TV 360 box or 360 Mini box,


How to change the parent controls for Virgin Media TV apps

You can lock some of your Apps and Games using your PIN on your Virgin Media box. To do this:

  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:

  • Blocked - no one can access the app and it will not be shown on your Virgin Media TV box

  • Locked - you’ll have to enter your Virgin TV PIN before accessing this app

  • Unlocked - anyone can access this app

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 that you use your normal Virgin TV 4-digit PIN.

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

Forgot your BBC iPlayer PIN If you’ve forgotten your BBC iPlayer 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 Media 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 Media 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 Media 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 Media 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 Media 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 Media TV PIN when you try to play any programme with a ‘G’ rating.

You'll need to enter your 4-digit Virgin Media 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 app's 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 Media 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, go to the Channel 4 website 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 parental control to restrict access to programming with guidance warnings.

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

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

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