How to lock screen on Mac

How to lock screen on Mac

• Shortcut: press Control-Command-Q.
• Apple menu: choose Apple menu › Lock Screen.
• Touch ID: press the Touch ID button on a MacBook or a Magic Keyboard that has one.
• Lock key: press the Lock Screen key if your Magic Keyboard has it.

To unlock, press any key and enter your password, or use Touch ID or an Apple Watch.

Lock the screen with a hot corner

A hot corner locks the Mac when you move the pointer into a corner of the screen.

1. Choose Apple menu › System Settings and click Desktop & Dock in the sidebar.
2. Scroll down and click Hot Corners.

3. Open the menu of the corner you want and choose Lock Screen.
4. Click Done.

If the corner fires by accident, hold Command, Shift, Option or Control while you choose the action. The corner will then work only with that key held down.

Make the Mac lock itself

1. Choose Apple menu › System Settings and click Lock Screen in the sidebar. You may need to scroll down.
2. Set Require password after screen saver begins or display is turned off to a short interval.

3. Set how long the Mac may stay idle before the display turns off: Turn display off on power adapter when inactive and, on a MacBook, Turn display off on battery when inactive.

Now the Mac locks on its own when you leave it: first the screen saver or a dark display, then a password.

Lock screen or log out?

Locking keeps everything as it is: apps run, downloads go on, and you are back in one touch. Logging out (Shift-Command-Q or Apple menu › Log Out) quits all your apps, so save your work first. Lock the screen when you step away, and log out when someone else will use the Mac under their own account.