That's when you must manually lock the computer screen. But you don't want your screen and all the windows you opened exposed for that long.

The automatic lock feature only activates after a preset time. Give me colored strands of light every time.Whenever you plan to leave your computer unattended for a short while, you manually activate the lock screen feature that requires the user to enter their password to access the display window. And by “screen saver,” I of course mean “that pretty Flurry thing.” A slideshow of pictures of important events in my life? Pshaw. That’s it! As I mentioned, be sure to have your Mac set to ask for a password immediately within System Preferences > Security & Privacy, but then, that swirly blue icon will become your one-stop shop for screen-saver Mac-locking happiness. Pick “Go to Folder” as I’ve done, and then type or paste the following path in exactly:Ĭlick “Go,” and when that folder opens, find the “ScreenSaverEngine” program… Click on the blue smiley face in your Dock to make sure Finder is active, and then choose the “Go” menu at the top.

If you combine this with the aforementioned System Preferences > Security & Privacy immediate password option, you’ll have a fast method for preventing unauthorized access to your Mac by just dragging your mouse into a corner of your screen.Īnother way to do this, though, is to add a funny little screen saver icon to your Dock, which’ll launch whichever one you picked at System Preferences > Desktop & Screen Saver > Screen Saver with just a click.ĭoes anyone ever use any screen saver other than Flurry? I mean, why would you?Īnyhow, the way you do this is pretty easy. Or you could configure what’s called a Hot Corner ( which TMO’s own Sandro Cuccia has written about before) to invoke your screen saver instead.

If you’d prefer, you could also use the Apple Menu’s Lock Screen command (or its associated keyboard shortcut, which is Control-Command-Q). …and then just closing the lid will do the trick.

If it’s a laptop, for example, you could set it to require the password immediately when sleep or the screen saver begins within System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General… As you may know, there are tons of ways you could lock your computer down when you’re walking away from it.

Lock on screen saver mac