macOS - How to Enable Screen Lock and Set a Password

This article provides instructions for you to enable the Lock Screen, set a password, and different ways for you to lock your screen on macOS.

Overview

This article provides instructions for you to enable the Lock Screen, set a password, and different ways for you to lock your screen on macOS.

• Enabling the Lock Screen
• Setting a Password
• Locking Methods

Enabling the Lock Screen

These steps will help walk you through enabling the lock screen on your macOS device using macOS 14 and above:

1. Open your System Settings. This can be found by clicking on the Apple logo in the top-left corner of your screen and selecting "System Settings" in the drop-down menu.
2. In System Settings, select Lock Screen, which can be located by scrolling in the left-hand side navigation bar. Here you can change your Screen Saver settings, inactive display settings, and whether or not you would like to require a password once your screen saver has begun. 
3. If you have not yet set a password for your macOS device, please see the next section: Setting a Password.

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Setting a Password

These steps will walk you through setting a password for your macOS device if you have not already done so.

1. Open your System Settings. This can be found by clicking the Apple logo in the top-left corner of your screen and selecting "System Settings" from the drop-down menu.
2. In System Settings, select Touch ID & Password, which can be found by scrolling in the left-hand side navigation bar. Here, you can set your device's password, change your device's password, and enable Touch ID, if applicable to your device. 
   • Touch ID (if applicable) - Touch ID is a fingerprint recognition feature from Apple available on some Mac computers and some Magic Keyboard models.
     1. To set up Touch ID, open System Settings by clicking on the Apple logo in the top-left corner and selecting "System Settings" from the drop-down menu.
     2. Click Touch ID & Password in the left-hand navigation bar (you may need to scroll down).
     3. To use Touch ID, place your finger on it.

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Locking Methods

There are a few different ways of locking your screen: Apple Menu, keyboard shortcuts, Hot Corners, Touch ID (if available), and Magic Keyboard button (if available).

• Apple Menu
  1. On your Mac, click on the Apple logo in the top-left corner of your screen
  2. Select Lock Screen from the drop-down menu that appears
• Keyboard Shortcuts
  1. Press the Control + Command + Q button at the same time to lock your macOS device
• Hot Corners - Hot Corners is a feature that allows different functions to execute when you drag your cursor to a corner of the screen. All four corners can be customized to do different things, so remember which corner you put your lock screen on
  1. Open System Settings. System Settings can be found by clicking on the Apple logo in the top-left corner of your screen and selecting "System Settings" from the drop-down menu.​​​​​​
  2. Click Desktop & Dock in the left-hand navigation bar
  3. Scroll all the way down to the bottom and click Hot Corners
  4. Click the pop-up menu for which corner you would like to use, then choose Lock Screen from the list of options
  5. Click Done
• Magic Keyboard (if applicable)
  1. ​​​​​​​Press the Lock Screen button if its available on your Magic Keyboard

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