Guide: lock your Mac screen immediately and deny access to third parties

August 2, 2018

It is a given that access to our computer should be limited, since important personal or professional files are kept there. But having to put our Mac into "Sleep" mode or turn it off every time we leave it exposed for a few minutes is a very time-consuming process, or at the very least, it's unhelpful!

In this guide we will see two ways in which we can lock the Mac screen directly, without unnecessary movements, so that only by using the cursor or Touch ID we can return to the task we were doing. The first way is more complicated since we need to enter the Mac's settings menu (only the first time). The second, only involves the keyboard since it's just a single shortcut.

Let's get started!

We select the apple at the top right of our screen and then go to "System Preferences".

Here in the first row we will see the "Security and Privacy" option.

We see all the security settings that apply to the Mac and that we can change. In order to "open" all the options and to be able to edit them, you have to "unlock" them by clicking on the padlock at the bottom left. First, if it isn't already, be sure to check the box with "Disable automatic login" if you want the Mac to be password protected.

Now tap again on the apple in the top left and select "Lock screen".

That was the first way! The second way is just a shortcut from the Mac keyboard. Press the combination command + control + Q.

If you want the Mac to lock when it goes into sleep mode, you can use the same settings we saw above to select "Require cue".

Note that the steps we have seen above are not needed every time. After you have done the setup you can click on the apple and "Lock Screen" or just use the shortcut from the keyboard.

Note: This feature is only available on the High Sierra operating system.

That's it! We've shown you the process to lock your Mac screen quickly and easily. If any questions came up during the process, we're at your disposal down in the comments.