How to Lock Your Mac's Computer Screen
Each of my two teenage daughters has her own MacBook, and they would like to lock their computer screens to prevent their machines from being used without their permission by other kids at school (and each other). Is there some software I can purchase to make this happen?
No need to purchase anything -- this functionality is built right into your Mac. Two system preferences need to be adjusted in order for your children to protect their computers from prying eyes and fingers. First, go to System Preferences > Security > General, and select “Require password immediately after sleep or screen saver begins.”
Next, go to System Preferences > Desktop & Screen Saver, click the Screen Saver tab, and then click the Hot Corners button. Decide which corner of your screen you’d like to use for screen locking, then click the corresponding pop-up menu and choose “Start Screen Saver” or “Put Display to Sleep,” and click OK.
All those checkmarks mean that we’ve really beefed up our security!
To lock the screen, just move your mouse into that corner of the screen, and you’ll trigger the screen saver (or put the display to sleep). The computer is now locked, and it will require a password to get back in again.
For extra security, you may want to require a password when the computer starts up as well. Go back to System Preferences > Security > General, and select “Disable automatic login.”
Note that these steps will keep casual snoopers away from these machines, but it won’t stop an IT professional or an expert Mac user from infiltrating this security. For a more advanced layer of security, read Apple’s support article on setting an open firmware password at support.apple.com/kb/ht1352.
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b0b
April 06, 2011 at 5:05pm
There's another way to do it, which I find very useful.
In the Exposé prefpane you can choose to put your display to sleep with active screen corners. For instance, moving your mouse to the upper right corner would put your display to sleep (obviously if you set it to another corner you'll have to move your mouse there).
This in combination with the 'require password after screensaver begins' option which can be found under the 'General' tab in the security prefpane makes it work very easy.
eJohnR
April 06, 2011 at 4:38pm
There's also a keyboard shortcut you could use. Just hit Ctrl + Shift + Eject to 'Sleep Display'. It's far less prone to accidental activation than the hot corner method.
macbookpro220
April 06, 2011 at 12:37pm
The way I do it is easier in my opinion because it only locks when you want it not when the screen saver comes on.
Go to System Preferences>Accounts and click on "Login Options". Click on the lock at the bottom and enter the Admin Password to unlock the options then...Check the box that says "Show fast user switching as". You can select how the menu bar icon displays itself from the drop down. Now in the Menu bar there is an Icon for user switching. Click on it and click "Login Window" This locks the computer. Hope this helps.
georgeman
April 06, 2011 at 12:25pm
The method described is very error prone to accidental locking, and it uses up a hot corner that can be used for other things. If you open the preferences for Keychain Access (Applications>Utilities), under general you can enable "Show Status in Menu Bar," which will allow you to lock the screen from the menu bar. For the more technical, there is a script available online that can be opened from a keystroke, for quicker access.
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