How to Use Lock Screen in MacOS High Sierra

How to Use Lock Screen in MacOS High Sierra

Mac users have long been able to , but with MacOS High Sierra 10.13.x onward, a simpler and faster option is now available on the Mac with an official Lock Screen feature. With the new Lock Screen feature, you can . Once Lock Screen has been enabled, a proper user login and password must be entered before the Mac can be accessed again. This is an excellent privacy and security feature, and one that Mac users should familiarize themselves with if they frequently use their computers in a public setting, be it at work, school, home, or anywhere else they may want to password protect their computer to prevent unwanted access. Note this specific Lock Screen feature is only available in the latest versions of Mac OS, including macOS High Sierra 10.13.x onward. If youre on an earlier version of Mac OS system software, youll need to rely on , or if you have a . You can enable the Lock Screen on Mac OS from anywhere via the Apple menu: Locking the screen is instantaneous, and the Mac will require a password to login and regain access. The Lock Screen feature does not log out of the user account, or quit any applications, it also wont start a screen saver right away, it only locks the screen by bringing up a familiar login window thereby requiring the user name and user password to regain entry to the Mac. Another option to enable the Lock Screen feature on the Mac is to use the keyboard shortcut The default keyboard shortcut for the new MacOS Lock Screen option is Command + Control + Q, you can hit the keystroke at any time to lock down the Mac: Once you hit the command sequence on the keyboard, the Mac screen will instantly lock out, thereby requiring a login to regain access. For many users, using the keyboard shortcut for Lock Screen will be faster than the menu option, and its likely that the keystroke approach is the fastest way to initiate a screen lock procedure on any Mac. Note that you can change the Lock Screen keyboard shortcut if youre unhappy with Control + Command + Q for whatever reason by going to the Keyboard system preferences. If you find yourself accidentally quitting apps instead of locking the screen, you may wish to do that. Just be sure your new keystroke doesnt conflict with anything else. To reiterate, these dedicated Lock Screen keyboard shortcut and menu options are only available to the latest versions of macOS system software (10.13+), but that does not mean that users of prior Mac OS software releases are left in the dark or without similar options to quickly activate a password screen to lock down a Mac. In fact, all versions of Mac OS can that can be activated by keystroke or by a mouse corner. Another option is to if you have one of those Macs. The primary difference between the new Lock Screen option in modern macOS releases versus the older lock screen trick available in earlier Mac OS releases is that the new variation is officially recognized as Lock Screen whereas earlier versions of Mac OS would indirectly go about enabling a lock screen by activating the screen saver with password protection. The end result is basically the same however, though the new variation wont immediately enable a screen saver, whereas the screen saver based approach always immediately does. By the way, if youre using the Lock Screen feature for security and privacy reasons (and you should be if your Mac gets used in any work place, public location, school, or even many home environments) then youll also want to be certain you so that all data on the hard drive is encrypted, further protecting your personal data from prying eyes or potential privacy incursions. Do you have any other handy tricks relating to the Lock Screen feature on the Mac? Share them with us in the comments below.