Family Link Location Not Updating? Your Troubleshooting Guide

When you open Google Family Link to check on your child, seeing a location that’s hours old can be deeply unsettling. That sense of security you expect from the app suddenly vanishes, replaced by worry and questions about whether the app is broken or if you’ve set it up wrong. If the family link location not updating is causing you stress, you are not alone. This guide provides clear, tested solutions to get this critical feature working again. We will walk through everything from basic checks to the specific advanced settings that cause these service interruptions, so you can re-establish a reliable connection and restore your peace of mind.

Start Here: A 5-Point Checklist for a Quick Fix

Before digging into complex settings, let’s work through the most common reasons location updates fail. Perform these checks on your child’s device to quickly solve the majority of issues.

1. Verify Network Connectivity: The device must be online to send its location. Check if your child’s phone is connected to Wi-Fi or has an active mobile data connection. A weak or nonexistent signal is the top reason for a stale location. On the child’s phone, swipe down from the top to open the Quick Settings panel and confirm the Wi-Fi or Mobile Data icon is active and shows a connection.

2. Ensure Location Services Are On: This may seem obvious, but location services can be accidentally disabled or turned off by other apps. On your child’s device, swipe down from the top of the screen to open the Quick Settings panel and make sure the ‘Location’ or GPS icon is toggled on and highlighted.

3. Restart the Child’s Device: A simple reboot can resolve countless background process glitches that might interfere with the google family link app. Power the child’s phone off completely, wait about 30 seconds, and then turn it back on. This simple procedure forces all apps and services to restart cleanly.

4. Refresh the Parent’s Family Link App: Sometimes the problem is a data sync issue on your phone. On your parent device, fully close the Google Family Link app (swipe it away from your recent apps list). Reopen it to force a new data request from your child’s phone.

5. Check for App Updates: An outdated version of the Family Link app on either your device or your child’s can cause compatibility problems. Open the Google Play Store on both phones, search for “Family Link,” and install any available updates.

The 1 Reason Family Link Is Not Showing Location: Battery Settings

If the checklist didn’t solve the problem, the next place to look is the battery settings on your child’s device. After extensive testing, we’ve found this is overwhelmingly the primary reason why family link is not showing location updates consistently.

Modern Android operating systems are designed to be highly efficient, and they aggressively manage power to extend battery life. When ‘Battery Saver’ mode is enabled, or if an app hasn’t been used recently, the system may put it into a “deep sleep.” This action prevents the app from running in the background—which is exactly what Family Link needs to do to report the child device location.

For example, one parent we worked with, Sarah, noticed her son’s location was stuck at his school for an hour after he had already left. The problem was that his phone had automatically entered battery saver mode once the charge dropped below 20%. For a permanent solution, you must adjust the battery settings specifically for the Family Link app on your child’s phone.

How to Exclude Family Link from Battery Optimization

This procedure tells the operating system to never put the app to sleep to save power, ensuring it can always report its location.

1. On your child’s device, open Settings > Apps.
Note for Samsung users: The exact location for these settings can vary. You may find them under Settings > Device Care > Battery > App power management.

2. Find and tap on the Family Link app in the list. On your child’s phone, this will be named “Family Link for children & teens.”
3. Select the Battery option.
4. Change the setting from ‘Optimized’ (or ‘Restricted’) to ‘Unrestricted’.

This single change is critical for consistent parental control location tracking.

Why Isn’t Family Link a Real-Time Location Tracker?

It’s important to understand how Family Link’s location feature is designed to work. A common point of frustration for parents is the assumption that it provides true real time location sharing. It does not. Family Link is not a commercial GPS tracker that gives a constant, live feed of every movement.

Instead, the google family link app uses a “last known location” model. The app on your child’s device checks in periodically to report its position rather than continuously pinging the GPS. As digital safety experts explain, this is an intentional design choice to prioritize the child’s device battery life. Constant GPS tracking would drain the battery very quickly, defeating the purpose of being able to locate the phone when needed. The system is designed for supervision, not constant surveillance.

This means that small delays between location updates are normal. If your child’s device is stationary, the location may not update for a while to conserve power. Updates become more frequent when the device is in motion, connected to a strong network, and actively being used. Understanding this balance between supervision and device performance can help reduce concern when the location isn’t updating every single minute.

Advanced Fixes for When Family Link Location is Wrong or Not Found

If you’ve worked through the initial checks and battery settings but still see ‘family link location not found’ or the family link location wrong by a large margin, it’s time to inspect the app’s permissions and data settings on the child’s device.

1. Set Location Permissions to ‘Allow all the time’

For Family Link to report its location when not in use, it needs permission to access the GPS at all times. This is the second most common cause of update failures.

1. On the child’s device, navigate to Settings > Apps.
2. Find and select the “Family Link for children & teens” app.

3. Tap on Permissions.
4. Select Location.
5. Ensure the permission is set to ‘Allow all the time‘. If it is set to ‘Allow only while using the app,’ the location will not update when the app is closed. This is a primary cause for the family link live location not working as expected.

2. Clear the App Cache

Corrupted temporary files can sometimes interfere with an app’s normal functions. Clearing the cache is a safe step that can resolve these glitches without deleting important data.

1. Follow steps 1 and 2 from above to get to the “Family Link for children & teens” app info screen.
2. Tap on Storage & cache.
3. Tap the ‘Clear cache’ button.

3. Verify Background Data Usage is Enabled

Ensure that no system-level setting is preventing Family Link from using data in the background.

1. Navigate to the “Family Link for children & teens” app info screen again (Settings > Apps > Family Link for children & teens).
2. Tap on ‘Mobile data & Wi-Fi’.
3. Confirm that the ‘Background data’ toggle is enabled. This allows the app to send location updates using mobile data even when it isn’t open on the screen.

4. Check Parent App Restrictions

Finally, it’s possible a setting in your parent app is inadvertently blocking location services. While less common, it’s worth checking to rule it out.

1. On your parent device, open the Family Link app.
2. Select your child’s profile.
3. Go to Controls > Location.
4. Make sure the master toggle for ‘See your child’s location’ is turned on.
5. Tap into Location settings and ensure that Location Sharing is enabled for the device in question. If you have multiple devices for your child, confirm you are checking the settings for the correct one.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are direct answers to some of the most common questions about the location tracking features in Google Family Link.

Does the child need to actively use the phone for updates?

While not strictly required, active use often leads to more frequent location updates. When the device is awake, its systems are more likely to process background tasks like sending location data. If the phone has been idle for a long time, the Android operating system may delay non-essential updates to conserve battery.

Is Family Link real-time tracking?

No, Family Link is not a real-time tracking service. It operates on a ‘last known location’ basis, checking in periodically. This is designed to balance supervision with practical needs like the child’s device battery life and privacy.

Can Wi-Fi-only devices cause location delays?

Yes, absolutely. A device that relies solely on Wi-Fi, such as a tablet, can only update its location when connected to a Wi-Fi network. As soon as the device leaves the range of that network, it goes offline and cannot send its position until it connects to another one, resulting in large gaps in the location history.

Restoring Your Peace of Mind

Navigating the technical settings of your child’s phone shouldn’t add to your parental worries. By following these tested procedures—especially adjusting the battery settings to ‘Unrestricted’ and location permissions to ‘Allow all the time’—you directly address the root causes of an unresponsive Family Link app. These steps are designed to move you from a state of uncertainty to one of confidence and control. You can solve this problem in minutes and restore the reliable connection that helps you ensure your child is safe.