How to Lock Screen on Mac (Sequoia/Sonoma) – 7 Ways

You may want to lock your Mac computer when you are away to keep your files secure. This post provides 7 ways to let you easily lock the screen of your Mac.

1. Use Mac Lock Screen Shortcut

You can easily lock your Mac computer with a keyboard shortcut. You can press the Control + Command + Q keys at the same time and it will take you to the lock screen.

2. Close Your Mac Lid to Lock It

If you choose the “Immediately” option when setting a password for your Mac, you can simply close your Mac lid to immediately lock your Mac.

3. Lock Your Mac Screen with Apple Menu

To immediately lock the screen of your Mac computer, you can click the Apple menu and choose Lock Screen.

4. How to Lock Screen on Mac with Hot Corner

You can set a corner of your Mac screen as a hot corner to quickly do actions by moving your mouse pointer to that corner. Check how to lock your Mac screen with the hot corner below.

1. Click Apple > System Settings > Desktop & Dock.
2. Scroll down in the right window and click the Hot Corners button.
3. Select a preferred corner of your Mac screen that you want to set as a hot corner for the Mac lock screen. From the drop-down menu, select Lock Screen.
4. Click Done to save the change.
5. Then you can move your pointer to the hot corner to lock your Mac next time.

5. Press the Touch ID to Lock Mac Screen

If the Touch ID is available on your Mac or Magic Keyboard, you can press the Touch ID to quickly lock your Mac.

6. How to Lock Mac Screen with Touch Bar

If your MacBook has a Touch Bar, you can customize it to add a Screen Lock icon. Check how to do it below.

1. Click Apple > System Settings > Keyboard.
2. Click the Touch Bar Settings button.
3. Click the Customize Control Strip button.
4. Drag the “Screen Lock” icon to the bottom of the screen to add it to the Mac Touch Bar.
5. Click Done to save the settings.
6. Then you can touch the Screen Lock icon on the Touch Bar to lock your Mac screen next time.

7. Lock Your Mac with Terminal

1. Click Spotlight Search to search for Terminal to open it.
2. In Terminal, you can type the command pmset displaysleepnow and press Enter to put your Mac in sleep mode.

How to Unlock Your Mac

Way 1. Press any key on your keyboard and enter your password to unlock your Mac computer.

Way 2. If your Mac supports Touch ID, you can you’re your Mac Touch ID to unlock it.

Way 3. If you’ve set up your Apple Watch to unlock your Mac, your Mac will automatically unlock when your Apple Watch is nearby and unlocked.

How to Set Up a Password for Your Mac Computer

Before you can lock your Mac screen, you need to set up a password for your Mac computer. This password is used to log into your Mac and make changes to some settings. Below are the steps for how to set up a password for Mac.

1. Click Apple > System Settings > Lock Screen.
2. Click the drop-down menu next to the “Require password after the screen saver begins or display is turned off” option.
3. Choose an option like “After 5 minutes”.
4. Then when your Mac goes to sleep or a screen saver starts, it will lock and require a password to unlock it.

Bottom Line

This post from Dr.Buho introduces 7 ways to lock your Mac screen. You can use one way to lock your computer if you need to temporarily leave your Mac.