If you don't want someone else to see your work while you're away from your desk, then it can be important to lock your screen -- all of your applications and documents will stay intact, but will be password protected until your arrive back to work. Read on to learn about two ways to lock your Mac's screen.
You can have your Mac automatically protect your privacy by navigating to System Preferences > Security & Privacy, and checking the box beside "Require password after sleep or screen saver begins." You can then use the drop-down menu to select a time.
Once the time has elapsed, you will be taken to a login screen where you must enter your password to view the screen. This is nifty if you leave your desk and often forget to lock your screen.
Lock Me Now [Mac App Store Link] is free in the Mac App Store. It lets you quickly and easily lock your Mac's screen, and set a keyboard shortcut.
Once installed, a small lock will appear in the menu bar. Click it and select "Lock" to have your Mac use the fast user switching method of displaying the OS X login screen. This will display the login screen while keeping your opened applications and documents intact. Just log back in to see your stuff just as you left it.
You can visit the Lock Me Now preferences to set a keyboard shortcut for the Lock. When you type use the shortcut, your will instantly be taken to the login screen.
Cory Bohon is a freelance technology writer, indie Mac and iOS developer, and amateur photographer. Follow Cory on Twitter.
Brent Cowgill
October 27, 2012 at 8:15am
This does the trick for me. I had set up the top left corner to start screen saver but then I started using synergy to control my windows box with my mac keyboard and this made it more difficult to move the mouse to the corner.
davedujour
February 23, 2012 at 4:26pm
Even better than installing yet another app to run all the time & take up system resources, on the Security window Require a password immediately after sleep or screen saver. Then in Expose & Spaces on the Expose tab, make on of the corners "Put Display to Sleep". On my iMac I set it to the upper right. It's very fast & easy to push the cursor to the upper right corner & lock the screen. Or did Apple remove Expose & Spaces from Lion? I haven't bothered "upgrading" to Lion yet.
