If youโre in the bad habit of walking away from your Mac and leaving it unlocked, then youโre running the risk of other people accessing your Mac in your absence.
Hopefully, the worst thatโll happen is some practical joker updates your Facebook status or changes your Desktop wallpaper, but in the worst case scenario someone could go snooping through your files, accessing sensitive data and maybe even modifying your Macโs contents without your consent.
Although your Mac will lock automatically whenever you close the lid, for increased security you should try and get into the habit of locking your Mac every time you step away from it.
Thereโs various ways that you can lock your Mac, ranging from using a keyboard shortcut, to configuring a hot corner or, if youโre lucky enough to own one of the new MacBook Pros, you can even add a Lock button to your Touchbar.
In this article Iโm going to be sharing various techniques that you can use to lock your Mac quickly and easily, so you can select the method (or methods) that work the best for you.
1. Lock your Mac Automatically
Ideally, you should get into the habit of manually locking your Mac whenever youโre leaving it for a significant period of time. However, itโs still a good idea to setup your Mac so it goes to sleep and then locks automatically after itโs been sat idle for a while, as this can be a useful fallback for those occasions when you do forget to lock your Mac.
You can configure your Mac to either lock automatically as soon as it enters a sleep state, or you can specify that your Mac should wait for a certain period of time before triggeringย the lock function. The latter can be useful if your Mac occasionally drifts off to sleep even when youโre sat right in front of it – you probably don’t want to have to keep unlocking your Mac, just because you were lost in thought and accidentally let your Mac doze off as a result!
To setup your Mac to lock automatically:
- Click the โAppleโ logo in the toolbar and select โSystem preferencesโฆโ
- Select the โSecurity & Privacyโ pane.
- Make sure the โGeneralโ tab is selected.
- Select the โRequire Passwordโ checkbox. If you donโt already have a password in place, then follow the onscreen instructions to create one.
- Use the accompanying dropdown to specify how long your Mac should wait after entering a sleep state.
- Make sure the โDisable Automatic Loginโ checkbox is selected.
You may also want to check how long your Mac needs to be stood idle for, before itโll go to sleep, so navigate back to the main โSystem Preferencesโฆ.โ screen and select โEnergy Saver.โ Take a look at the timeline in both the โBatteryโ and โPower Adapterโ tabs, and make any necessary adjustments.
2. Lock Your Mac With a Keyboard Shortcut
Technically, you can only send your Mac to sleep using a keyboard shortcut, but if youโve configured your Mac to lock as soon as it enters sleep mode, then this is essentially the same as locking the screen. Even if youโve specified that your Mac should sleep for a set period of time before locking, this shortcut may still be useful depending on exactly how long your Mac needs to wait before the locking mechanism is triggered.
To send your Mac to sleep, press the โControl+Shift+Powerโ keys. If you have an older MacBook that doesnโt feature the โPowerโ button as an actual keyboard key, then you can send your Mac to sleep using the โControl+Shift+Ejectโ shortcut instead.
3. Lock Your Screen From the Menu Bar
You can also add a โLock Screenโ icon to your Macโs toolbar:
- Open a โFinderโ window and navigate to โApplications > Utilities > Keychain Access.โ
- Select โKeychain Accessโ from the toolbar, followed by โPreferencesโฆโ
- Select the โShow keychain status in menu barโ checkbox.
A padlock icon will appear in your Macโs toolbar; click this icon to open a dropdown menu containing various options, including a โLock screenโ option.
4. Lock Your Mac Using Hot Corners
Hot corners are a bit of a divisive topic amongst the Mac community, with some users appearing to hate this feature.
If youโve never experimented with hot corners before, then they allow you to assign an action to each corner of the screen. You can then trigger these actions by moving your mouse to the corresponding corner. While this can be a useful productivity feature, itโs frustrating if you keep activating a hot corner by accident, which is a big part of why some Mac users seem to dislike hot corners so much.
To create a hot corner thatโll send your screen to sleep whenever itโs triggered:
- Navigate to โSystem preferences > Mission Control.โ
- Click the โHot Corners…โ button.
- Open one of the four dropdown menus, and set it to โPut Display to Sleep.โ
- Save your changes by clicking โOK.โ
You can now send your Mac to sleep by moving your mouse to this particular corner, at which point your Mac will either lock immediately, or itโll lock after a period of time, depending on your settings.
If you try this feature and decide that hot corners arenโt for you, then you can deactivate them by navigating back to โSystem preferences > Mission Control > Hot Corners,โ opening the corresponding dropdown menu and setting it to โ-.โ
5. Lock your Mac Using the Touchbar
If you own one of the new MacBook Pros, then you can add a โLockโ button to the Touchbar:
- Open your Macโs โSystem preferencesโฆโ
- Select the โKeyboardโ pane.
- Click the โCustomize Control Stripโฆ.โ button.
- In the subsequent window, find the โLock Screenโ button and drag it onto your Toolbar.
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