There are a number of different ways to lock or sleep your screen in macOS. Before we show them to you, however, it's important to make the distinction between locking your screen and just putting it to sleep.
How to lock your Mac 1. Use Apple menu Go to the Apple menu and choose Sleep. This will display the login screen for your account and won't. Use shortcuts If you're using a Mac that's running macOS Catalina, go to the Apple menu and choose Lock Screen. Set up a hot corner Hot corners. That alone is enough to make us recommend MacID already, but there's more to it than just unlocking a Mac. Thanks to today's update, Mac users can now have the contents of their clipboard sent to a Mac from their iPhone, see what track is currently being played from within iTunes or Spotify on the Mac in question and start the screensaver all from the MacID app. Lock Screen Via Mac Sleep Shortcut If you're using a Mac that's running macOS Catalina, hit Command + Control + Q to activate Lock Screen on the Mac. This Mac lock screen shortcut saves your time. For older versions, press Control+Shift+Power button.
How to lock Photos on Mac with Screen Time Step 1. Open Screen Time in System Preferences or Spotlight. If it is not yet enabled on your Mac. Select the box before Use Screen Time Passcode and set a passcode. It will be used to lock your Photos. Head over to the AppCrypt website and download the app to your Mac. Drag the app to your Applications folder so it appears in all app launchers. Click on Launchpad in your Dock, search for AppCrypt, and click on it when it appears to launch the app. Since the app has been downloaded from the Internet, you'll get a warning message on your screen.
If you lock your Mac you'll put it to sleep and need to type in your login password on your Mac's lock screen (or unlock it with TouchID on a MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, or with an Apple Watch). If you put it to sleep, you won't necessarily lock it. In order to lock your screen, you need to set up the password in System Preferences. Here's how to do that.
How to set up a password to lock the screen
- Launch System Preferences either by clicking on its icon in the Dock or by choosing it from the Apple menu.
- Click on the Security & Privacy pane.
- Choose the General tab and check the option that starts ‘Require password…'
- Choose an option from the dropdown menu.
Now, whenever your Mac goes to sleep or a screensaver starts, it will lock and you'll have to authenticate with your user password, Apple Watch or TouchID to gain access.
Worried about your Mac's security in public places? Get Beepify, a Setapp app that protects your Mac from theft.
Download Beepify FreeHow to lock your Mac
If you have a MacBook, a MacBook Air or a MacBook Pro, the quickest and easiest way to lock your Mac is just to shut the lid. When you do that, the Mac goes to sleep and when you open it again you'll need to unlock it.
However, there are occasions when you'll want to prevent anyone from seeing the screen without actually closing it. And, in any case, if you have an iMac, Mac mini or Mac Pro, it's not an option. Here are some other ways you can lock your Mac's display.
1. Use Apple menu
Go to the Apple menu and choose Sleep. Safari 11 download. This will display the login screen for your account and won't unlock with a password (unless you're wearing an Apple Watch when you do it and then it will lock and unlock immediately)
Tip: If you want your Mac to remain locked even when you're close by and you have an Apple Watch, go to System Preferences>Security & Privacy>General and uncheck the Allow your Apple Watch to unlock your Mac option.
2. Use shortcuts
If you're using a Mac that's running macOS Catalina, go to the Apple menu and choose Lock Screen or press Command+Control+Q. This will lock your Mac and return you to the Login screen.
For older versions of the operating system, press Control+Shift+Power button (or Control+Shift+Eject if your Mac has an optical drive). It will lock the screen.
You can also use a keyboard shortcut to put your Mac to sleep. Press Command+Option+Power (or Eject). This works in a similar way to the previous one, but rather than just lock your Mac it powers down the hard drive, puts the CPU into low power mode and stops background tasks in order to save energy.
3. Set up a hot corner
Hot corners allow you to drag to the mouse pointer to one of the four corners of the screen to initiate an action – you can use one as a sleep shortcut on your Mac. To set it up:
How to set up a password to lock the screen
- Launch System Preferences either by clicking on its icon in the Dock or by choosing it from the Apple menu.
- Click on the Security & Privacy pane.
- Choose the General tab and check the option that starts ‘Require password…'
- Choose an option from the dropdown menu.
Now, whenever your Mac goes to sleep or a screensaver starts, it will lock and you'll have to authenticate with your user password, Apple Watch or TouchID to gain access.
Worried about your Mac's security in public places? Get Beepify, a Setapp app that protects your Mac from theft.
Download Beepify FreeHow to lock your Mac
If you have a MacBook, a MacBook Air or a MacBook Pro, the quickest and easiest way to lock your Mac is just to shut the lid. When you do that, the Mac goes to sleep and when you open it again you'll need to unlock it.
However, there are occasions when you'll want to prevent anyone from seeing the screen without actually closing it. And, in any case, if you have an iMac, Mac mini or Mac Pro, it's not an option. Here are some other ways you can lock your Mac's display.
1. Use Apple menu
Go to the Apple menu and choose Sleep. Safari 11 download. This will display the login screen for your account and won't unlock with a password (unless you're wearing an Apple Watch when you do it and then it will lock and unlock immediately)
Tip: If you want your Mac to remain locked even when you're close by and you have an Apple Watch, go to System Preferences>Security & Privacy>General and uncheck the Allow your Apple Watch to unlock your Mac option.
2. Use shortcuts
If you're using a Mac that's running macOS Catalina, go to the Apple menu and choose Lock Screen or press Command+Control+Q. This will lock your Mac and return you to the Login screen.
For older versions of the operating system, press Control+Shift+Power button (or Control+Shift+Eject if your Mac has an optical drive). It will lock the screen.
You can also use a keyboard shortcut to put your Mac to sleep. Press Command+Option+Power (or Eject). This works in a similar way to the previous one, but rather than just lock your Mac it powers down the hard drive, puts the CPU into low power mode and stops background tasks in order to save energy.
3. Set up a hot corner
Hot corners allow you to drag to the mouse pointer to one of the four corners of the screen to initiate an action – you can use one as a sleep shortcut on your Mac. To set it up:
- Launch System Preferences.
- Choose the Desktop & Screen Saver pane.
- Click the Hot Corners button at the bottom right of the window.
- In the drop down window, choose a corner.
- Click on the menu and choose either Start Screen Saver or Put Display to Sleep.
How To Lock The Mac
4. Use fast user switching
Fast user switching allows you to quickly log into another user account on your Mac. But you can also use it to return to the log in window, which locks your Mac. Got to System Preferences>Users & Groups and click the padlock, then type in your password. Click Login Options and check the box next to ‘Show fast user switch menu as.' You can also choose whether to show the menu as your full name, the account name or an icon.
To lock your Mac, click the fast user switching menu at the right of the menu bar and choose Login Window…
5. Add Keychain Access to the menu bar
How To Lock Your Mac From Your Iphone
This option was removed in macOS Mojave but works on versions before High Sierra:
- Go to Finder.
- Choose Applications > Utilities.
- Launch Keychain Access.
- Click in the Keychain Access menu and select Preferences.
- Check the box next to Show keychain status in menu bar.
- You'll see a lock in the Finder menu bar. Click it and choose Lock Screen to lock your Mac.
Other ways to protect your privacy
First of all, fet a Finder-like Terminal for Mac that will help you completely control the login settings. It's called MacPilot. The app covers over 1,200 hidden macOS features. For privacy, you can go into the Login tab and customize access by users, enable the option of automatic screen locking, and edit launch items.
If you're looking for physical protection of your Mac, Beepify is the app you need. Whenever you have to step away from the computer in a public place, activate Beepify and it will be set to produce a loud sound in case someone tries to close the screen or disconnect charger.
One of the main reasons for locking your Mac when you step away from it is to stop prying eyes accessing your files, browser history, or anything else you don't want them to see. CleanMyMac X has a tool that gives you even more privacy protection.
CleanMyMac's Privacy tool allows you to quickly delete your browser history in Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. But it also allows you to delete message threads and attachments in Messages, and to remove entries from macOS' recent files lists.
Also, CleanMyMac's Shredder is a quick and easy way to securely delete sensitive data. You can download CleanMyMac for free and give it a try.
As you can see, putting your Mac to sleep or locking it is very easy. There are lots of different ways to do it, although some are dependent on the version of macOS you're using. If you regularly lock your Mac to prevent others accessing it, you should ensure your login password is strong and secure.
Finally, if privacy is important, CleanMyMac has a couple of tools that can help delete sensitive data.
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Leaving your MacBook unattended can result in someone gaining unauthorized access to files and data stored on your Mac. An easy way to prevent such a possibility is to setup your Mac to Lock itself while it lies unattended. Let's take a look at How to Lock Your Mac without logging off.
Lock Mac Without Logging Off
Most people leave their Mac open or just put it to sleep, so that they can quickly return back to whatever they were doing on their computer.
While this practice appears convenient, there is always a risk of someone trying to take a look at your computer activities or gain access to your computer for other reasons.
To prevent this, you can set up your Mac to lock itself, whenever you press Control + Shift + Power buttons on the keyboard of your computer.
This keyboard shortcut will lock your computer and anyone trying to gain access to your Mac will be required to enter its login password.
1. Lock Mac Without Logging Off Using Keyboard Shortcut
The ability to Lock Mac using Control + Shift + Power Keyboard shortcut is not enabled by default on your Mac. Hence, follow the steps below to setup your Mac to lock itself when the keyboard shortcut is used.
http://seudgm.xtgem.com/Blog/__xtblog_entry/19181894-shabba-ranks-greatest-hits-2001-rar-free#xt_blog. Click on the Apple Menu icon located in the top menu bar on your Mac and then click on System Preferences. Free slots for fun 777.
On the System Preferences screen, click on Security & Privacy
On the next screen, click on the General tab and check the option for Require password.
Next, click on the down arrow next to Require Password and change the time interval from the default 5 minutes to Immediately (See image below)
On the pop-up, enter the password for your user account in order to confirm the changes.
After this setting, you will be able to Lock your Mac at any time by simply pressing Control + Shift + Power keys. On older Mac's with an optical drive, the keyboard combination is Control + Shift + Eject.
2. Alternate Methods to Lock Mac Without Logging OFF
Once you setup your Mac to Require Password Immediately using steps as described above, you can use other methods to Lock Mac without logging off.
Close the Lid – If you are using a MacBook, you can simply close the lid and your MacBook will automatically lock itself.
Use Sleep option – On all other Mac computers, including MacBooks, click on the Apple Menu Icon and then click on Sleep. This will also lock your Mac with a password.
Note: For above methods to work, you need to setup Mac to require password whenever it goes to sleep using steps as described in the first method.
3. Lock Mac Without Logging Off Using Hot Corners
How To Lock Your Macbook Pro
Another easy way to Lock Mac without logging off is to make use of hot corners as available on your Mac.
Click on the Apple Icon located in the top menu bar of your Mac and then click on System Preferences. On the System Preferences screen, click on Mission Control.
On the Mission Control screen, click on the Hot Corners button located at the bottom left corner of the screen.
On the next pop-up, select your Hot Corner location (Top Left, Top Right, Bottom Right, Bottom Left), click on the Arrow and select Put Display to Sleep option in your selected Hot Corner.
From now on, you can quickly lock your Mac by hovering your mouse over your selected Hot Corner position.
