{"id":12010,"date":"2020-01-09T00:38:56","date_gmt":"2020-01-09T00:38:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/?p=12010"},"modified":"2020-01-09T00:38:56","modified_gmt":"2020-01-09T00:38:56","slug":"how-to-lock-a-mac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/lock-mac-screen.html","title":{"rendered":"How to Lock a Mac"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It goes without saying that security is a very important issue, especially since Mac computers are very portable these days. Carrying your Macbook Pro, Macbook Air or Macbook open up the possibility of theft, loss or damage which could put your personal files at risk. Since your personal data and files being protected is always important, it\u2019s useful to lock your Mac computer when you are away. Locking your Mac helps safeguard your data from prying eyes or maybe even a potential criminal. It also protects your devices from any unauthorized access from friends, family or strangers. If your Mac is locked your personal data will not be easily accessed even if your Mac becomes lost or compromised by someone else.<\/p>\r\n<img src=\"\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Lock-a-Mac-2.jpg\" alt=\"Lock a Mac\" width=\"411\" height=\"247\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-16608 size-full\" \/>\r\n<p>There are several ways of locking your Mac computer. We bet you have some questions, such as: How to Lock Mac computers? How to lock a folder on Mac? How to lock keyboard on Mac computers? How to lock Mac screen? Is the Mac notebook lock safe?<\/p>\r\n<p>While we will go into more details in this article, the easiest way to put your Mac computer in a locked state is simply to put it to sleep while having a password set:<\/p>\r\n<ol>\r\n\t<li>On your Mac device, navigate to System Preferences<\/li>\r\n\t<li>From System Preferences, click on Security &amp; Privacy<\/li>\r\n\t<li>After you click on Security &amp; Privacy, select General<\/li>\r\n\t<li>After selecting General, what you need to do is enable your password protection<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"how_to_lock_a_mac_how_to_enable_password_protection\"><\/span>How to Lock a Mac: How to Enable Password Protection<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p>Locking your Mac device is useful, but to effectively protect your personal data, files and other peripherals, you will need to activate the password option. Activation of the password will prompt whoever is attempting to access your Mac while you are not around to input a password.<\/p>\r\n<p>To enable <a href=\"\/help\/reset-password-mac-howto.html\">password protection<\/a> navigate to System Preferences. Then click on Security &amp; Privacy. From there, click on General and select the first option which is &#8216;Require password&#8217;. You can also edit the length of inactivity time before your Mac will demand a password. This means that if you want to lock your Mac device when you are using it (such as stepping away shortly) but don\u2019t want to password-protect it you are in luck. This option can be set at any time between an immediate password-prompt to eight hours.<\/p>\r\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"how_to_lock_a_mac_how_to_use_your_keyboard_to_lock_your_mac\"><\/span>How to Lock a Mac: How to Use Your Keyboard to Lock Your Mac<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p>Once you&#8217;ve configured the settings of your Mac computer, it is very easy and quick to lock your Mac. Just press Control + Shift + Eject at the same time. Alternatively, you can press Power if you are using a newer Mac computer and your Mac will be locked instantly.<\/p>\r\n<img src=\"\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/keyboard-lock-Mac-3-500x263.jpg\" alt=\"keyboard lock Mac\" width=\"500\" height=\"263\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-12027 size-large\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/keyboard-lock-Mac-3-500x263.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/keyboard-lock-Mac-3-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/keyboard-lock-Mac-3.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/>\r\n<p>To log back in, just press any key on your keyboard and you will be prompted to enter a password. This is dependent on your configured settings above.<\/p>\r\n<p>It is worthy of note that locking your Mac allows your background tasks to continue working while they are secured by a password. This means that if you lock your Mac while uploading a video to YouTube or editing a file, your file upload and file editing will remain functional and continue to run even when you are away.<\/p>\r\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"how_to_lock_a_mac_how_to_put_your_display_to_sleep\"><\/span>How to Lock a Mac: How to Put Your Display to Sleep<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p>Putting your Mac\u2019s display to sleep is the same thing as locking your Mac. Though this can be done via a quick shortcut. The shortcut is accessed by assigning a corner of your Mac to send your display to sleep.<\/p>\r\n<img src=\"\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Hotcorner-500x443.png\" alt=\"Hotcorner\" width=\"500\" height=\"443\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-15118 size-large\" \/>\r\n<p>To enable the option to put your Mac display to sleep, navigate to Desktop &amp; Screensaver. Click on Screensaver and from there click on the &#8216;Hot Corners&#8217; option within this window. This will pop-up another prompt giving you the option to customize the four corners of your Mac computer.<\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"letter-spacing: 0.4px;\">From there, simply click on &#8216;Put Display to Sleep&#8217; and click on OK. Note that each time you navigate your mouse to that corner of the Mac screen it will automatically put the display to sleep, at the same time locking your Mac.<\/span><br \/>\r\n Like the lock option, this will keep your background tasks running even when you are away and your Mac is locked and secured.<\/p>\r\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"how_to_send_your_mac_to_sleep\"><\/span>How to Send Your Mac to Sleep<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p>Sending your Mac to sleep is different from locking and putting your display to sleep. Sending the entire Mac to sleep shuts down all background tasks. This means that if you send your Mac to sleep while uploading to YouTube or editing a file, those tasks will halt. Make sure you send your Mac to sleep only if you know your work is saved and no important task is running in the background.<\/p>\r\n<p>To send your Mac to sleep, press Command + Option + Eject at the same time. Alternatively you can press the power key or button if you are using a newer Mac. If you have enabled a password with the prior steps your Mac will be password-protected upon returning from sleep mode.<\/p>\r\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"how_to_lock_a_folder_on_mac\"><\/span>How to Lock a Folder on Mac<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p>Locking your Mac computer is not the only way of safe-keeping your files. You can also lock an entire folder on your Mac. To lock a folder on Mac a few more steps are required and the general process is a bit more complicated but it\u2019s worth the risk of allowing someone to access your personal files without permission.<\/p>\r\n<p>To begin, open the Applications folder. Then open the Utilities folder. Look for Disk Utility option and open it, then click on the File Menu and click on New Image. Select Image from Folder, in the next step select the Folder you want to protect and click on the Open button. Now select the Image Format: \u201cread\/write\u201d and for the encryption option select: 128-bit AES encryption.<\/p>\r\n<p>Disk Utility will request that you enter a password and confirm it to continue. Now name the Disk image and click on the location you want to save it. Click on the Save icon and the process will start. Once completed you will have a new Image file with password protection.<\/p>\r\n<p>To open your protected files, simply click on the Disk Image and enter your password, a new Unit icon will appear on your desktop and you can access the files through this option. When you are done working with your private files, simply click on the disk icon and eject it. Your files will be stored and safe again.<\/p>\r\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"how_to_recover_locked_and_encrypted_files_on_mac\"><\/span>How to Recover Locked and Encrypted Files on Mac<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p>Disk Drill is a leading file recovery solution for Mac trusted by thousands of people every day. With Disk Drill it is possible to locate and recover all types of files on your Mac including those that have been accidentally or purposely deleted and even files that \u201cjust disappeared\u201d.<\/p>\r\n<img src=\"\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Recover-Files-on-Mac-2.png\" alt=\"Recover Files on Mac\" width=\"520\" height=\"304\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-16610 size-full\" \/>\r\n<p><a href=\"\/\">Disk Drill<\/a> makes it possible to <a href=\"\/help\/file-types\/\">recover many types of files<\/a>, including music, videos and much more, from all types of drives, including USB flash drives and portable storage. To get started Disk Drill Basic allows you to scan and protect your drive for free. After downloading and launching Disk Drill all you have to do is locate your drive in the list, hit the recover button and celebrate outstanding <a href=\"\/downloads.html\">file recovery<\/a>. No messy computer code, headaches, technical documents or stress.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div class=\"relative bottom download__block\">\r\n            <div class=\"d-flex align-center download__block__inner\">\r\n                <div class=\"download__block__image-wrapper\">\r\n                <div class=\"download__block__image\">\r\n                    <img src=\"\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/sidebar-ban-96.png\" srcset=\"\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/sidebar-ban-2x-1.png 2x\" alt=\"Disk Drill\" width=\"96\" height=\"96\">        \r\n                <\/div>\r\n                <\/div>\r\n                <div class=\"download__block__announce\">\r\n                    <b>download-block-title<\/b><br>\r\n                    download-block-text\r\n                <\/div>\r\n                <div class=\"download__block__action\">\r\n                    <a href=\"\/\/download.html\" data-href-mac=\/\/disk-drill-mac.html data-href-win=\/\/disk-drill-win.html class=\"button button-green btn-md osreplace\">\r\n<svg width=\"16\" height=\"16\" viewBox=\"0 0 16 16\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\">\r\n<path d=\"M11.9546 7.293C11.8736 7.114 11.6956 7 11.4996 7H9.49957V0.5C9.49957 0.224 9.27557 0 8.99957 0H6.99957C6.72357 0 6.49957 0.224 6.49957 0.5V7H4.49957C4.30357 7 4.12557 7.115 4.04457 7.293C3.96257 7.472 3.99457 7.681 4.12357 7.829L7.62357 11.829C7.71857 11.938 7.85557 12 7.99957 12C8.14357 12 8.28057 11.937 8.37557 11.829L11.8756 7.829C12.0056 7.682 12.0356 7.472 11.9546 7.293Z\" fill=\"white\"\/>\r\n<path d=\"M13.5 11V14H2.5V11H0.5V15C0.5 15.553 0.948 16 1.5 16H14.5C15.053 16 15.5 15.553 15.5 15V11H13.5Z\" fill=\"white\"\/>\r\n<\/svg>\r\ndownload-block-button-text\r\n<\/a>\r\n                <\/div>\r\n            <\/div>\r\n        <\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It goes without saying that security is a very important issue, especially since Mac computers are very portable these days. Carrying your Macbook Pro, Macbook Air or Macbook open up the possibility of theft, loss or damage which could put&#8230;","protected":false},"author":7840,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2638],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-12010","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-mac-os-x-tips-troubleshooting"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Lock Screen on Mac OS X. Quick Steps<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/lock-mac-screen.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Lock Screen on Mac OS X. Quick Steps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It goes without saying that security is a very important issue, especially since Mac computers are very portable these days. Carrying your Macbook Pro, Macbook Air or Macbook open up the possibility of theft, loss or damage which could put...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/lock-mac-screen.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Data recovery tips. 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He also has a more than 10-year experience in program development for macOS, Windows, iOS, Android. Arthur Cole is a writer with deep expertise in programming, who can easily jump into development processes on any modern platform, be it Windows, Mac, iOS, or Android, being at the same time a capable storyteller of all things IT. He often comes up with great ideas and innovative input, which makes him an indispensable part on his myriad of teams. He really likes writing. Unlike others, he also likes seeing others reading his content, of course. He created articles about Technology, Podcast and Gaming Industries, End-User and Corporate Software, Hardware, and so on. Over the years, he wrote hundreds of articles and tutorials on sites such as DZone, Simpleprogrammer, Ingeniumweb, Themanifest, Enterprisenetworkingplanet, aboutssl.org and many more. Arthur has been an essential part of various marketing campaigns for CleverFiles, maintained great relationships with our partners, and was pretty much always a frontman at various conferences, ensuring a connection with fellow IT entrepreneurs. He is a great animal lover and hiking enthusiast. Loves exploring new trails and beaches with his dog Angus and has recently been getting his hands and knees dirty in the garden.","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/Arthur_Cole_"],"url":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/author\/arthur-cole\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7840"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12010"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12010\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28681,"href":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12010\/revisions\/28681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}