How to automatically lock my computer if I step away for a few minutes

What is the best way to secure my computer if I walk away for a few minutes? Having the screensaver come on? Or is there another way to lock out the current user if the computer is inactive for 5+ minutes?
Thanks!

If you choose "Show Status in Menu Bar" from Keychain Access > Preferences > General you will get a little padlock in the Right Hand menu bar. This has a menu "Lock Screen, …" which will automatically switch to the screensaver and require entry of a password to get back (it does allow switching to another user if Fast User Switching is enabled).
That way you can set security immediately. It would, though, be a good idea to trigger the screensaver after a minute or two (whatever suits you) in case you forget

Similar Messages

  • When I have documents open and I walk away for a few minutes, when I come back and try to resume working, my computer seems to freeze up and the little pinwheel starts spinning and I literally have to unplug my computer to get it out of this frozen state.

    When I have documents open and I walk away for a few minutes, when I come back and resume working, my computer freezes up and the little pinwheel starts spinning.  I literally have to unplug it to get out of this frozen state.  This has been getting progressively worse over the past three months.  I recently took it into the Genius Bar and they could not find anything wrong.  They told me to add more memory, which I did.  However, the problem persists. Do you know why my computer would freeze up after the screen has had no activity for just a few minutes?  My screen saver is set for an hour so I know this is not the problem.

    What kind of documents? Office? iWork? Text Edit? What version?
    What settings do you have in regards to power saver and/or screen saver?
    For these kinds of system glitches I always recommend installing and running Onyx 'Automation'. If that does not work you should reinstall the offending software, if possible.
    Onyx - http://www.titanium.free.fr/download.php?sid=d1caebc01e3207556c6d75791305ccf2

  • Spinning color wheel whenever computer is used after idle for a few minutes

    Whenever I try to use my iMac after it's been idle for a few minutes there is a 3-5 second delay while the color wheel spins. This happens in all programs. I have deleted the plist power settings and all sleep options and processor options have been tried to no avail. The mouse remains responsive and I can move the cursor but whenever I click or try to execute any operations the color wheel appears.
    Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
    iMac G5 rev B   Mac OS X (10.4.4)  

    Thanks, but no Norton installed. It gets a little stranger; I reinstalled the system software with an archive and save. Now I still get the delay after the computer is idle for a few minutes, but I no longer get the color wheel. Example, if I start iTunes and then wait about 2-3 minutes when I hit play the play button turns blue but it takes several seconds before the song plays. Before I reinstalled I would have the same delay only I would get the color wheel.

  • Since I have installed yosemite problems with my retina notebook 15. It hit off the router and no longer detected wiffi networks. I need to turn off and turn on my computer wiffi to re-connect for a few minutes

    Problem with mi wifi since i upgrade to yosmite. I have to turn off wifi from my retina and then turn on to reconnect

    Hello there, ogresta.
    The following Knowledge Base article offers up some great, in-depth recommendations for troubleshooting Wi-Fi connectivity on your MacBook:
    Wi-Fi: How to troubleshoot Wi-Fi connectivity
    Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities.
    Cheers,
    Pedro.

  • My iPhone 4 was stolen, how do i lock it permanently using a serial number for instance so nobody can use it or access my personal information, knowing that the thief knows my personal passcode.. Please help, Thanx

    My iPhone 4 was stolen, how do i lock it permanently using a serial number for instance so nobody can use it or access my personal information, knowing that the thief knows my personal passcode.. Please help, Thanx

    You cannot lock it by the serial number. Report it to your carrier and the police. You said that the thief knows your pass code. Does that mean that the thief was a personal friend who would be close enough to you to know what your code was? If that is the case, ask your friend to return your phone.

  • HT5625 My wireless internet connection keeps defaulting from my network to a neighbors' when the computer is left idle for a few minutes. How do I reset to my stay on my network?

    My default internet connection keeps defaulting to a neighbors' network when left idle for a few minutes. How do I reset to use my network?

    Likely both of you have Open networks and the Mac is just connecting to the strongest one, hopefully it's just that.
    If you set a encryption and a password, then it shouldn't be doing this.
    WiFi security issues, at home and WiFi hotspots
    If you can't do this yourself, then have a local geek come by and set you up.
    Also if you head to System Preferences > Network > Airport > Advanced, there might be a connection list, you drag your connection to the top and remove the ones your not going to use.

  • Not using my MacBook for a few minutes I get logged out, how can I avoid this?

    Whenever I have not used my MacBook (brand new) with Yosemite (all updates) installed not for a few minutes I get logged out and I need to login and to start all applications again. How can I stop this?
    My Energy Saving setting:

    Open the Security & Privacy pane of System Preferences and turn off automatic logout.
    (121990)

  • Screen goes black, shut the lid for a few minutes, open the lid the turn on chime comes on and the screen comes back to life. The computer itself has continued to update just no screen. After a few minutes goes black again. Is logic board going bad?

    Screen goes black, shut the lid for a few minutes, open the lid the turn on chime comes on and the screen comes back to life. The computer itself has continued to update just no screen. After a few minutes goes black again. Is logic board going bad or graphic card issue? Trying to decide if computer is worth repairing as it was made in 2007.

    It does sound like you might have a faulty video connection. See if you can make a Genius Bar appointment at your local Apple Store.

  • Trouble with Safari 6.0.5. Works for a few minutes then locks up in all tabs (wheel spinning). Chrome

    Trouble with Safari 6.0.5. Works for a few minutes then locks up in all tabs (wheel spinning). Chrome & Firefox work fine. Using OSX 10.8.4. Wonder if I downloaded plugin causing this? Please help.

    Yes, a plugin or an extension either one...
    From your Safari menu bar click Safari > Preferences then select the Security tab.
    Deselect:  Allow all other plug-ins. Quit and relaunch Safari to test.
    If that made a difference, instructions for troubleshooting plugins here.
    If it's not a plug-in issue, select the Extensions tab. If there are any extensions installed, turn that OFF, quit and relaunch Safari to test.  If that made a difference, uninstall one at a time, quit and relaunch Safari to test until you find the culprit.  

  • Automatically Lock the Computer After a Specified Timeout Value

    Is there any way to set a Win 7 box to automatically lock after a set timeout value with either GPO or the registry
    without having to enable a screensaver? All my searching has come up with using the screensaver to accomplish this. We do not use a screensaver but instead turn the monitors off, screensavers are so 90's. Thanks.

    Hi Brad5689,
    There is a group policy we can have a try .
    Computer Configuration | Administrative Templates | System | Power Management|Video and display
    Conserving Energy with Group Policy(It is also applied to Windows 7)
    https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc462804.aspx
    Best regards
    Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help, and unmark the answers if they provide no help. If you have feedback for TechNet Support, contact [email protected]

  • On a MacBook Air, how can I choose to lock my computer when I walk away from it for a little while to ensure no one can have access to it?

    I have heard of something called Keychain but am so far unable to find out how to use it properly.

    Just close the lid and have it set to "sleep" when this is done, and set a password to your user account.
    If you mean to automatically do this when you leave it unattended for bit go to system preferences and set it to display sleep after whatever amount of time you prefer, then make sure it's set to require password on wakeup
    I do these and they work fine

  • How do I lock a document and let it just for save and print, but no to copy?

    How do I lock a document in order it can be saved and printed, but not to copy?

    Not possible.

  • My iPhone 6 doesn't lock after being on standby for a few minutes. Where in the settings can I change that?

    sometimes I'll forget to lock my phone when I walk away from it. I'll come back to it in 10 minutes and it will still be on whatever screen I was on last and not have locked on itself. How do I change this where after x amount of minutes on standby that it locks itself?

    Settings > General > Autolock

  • Computer freezes for a few minutes after minimizing/closing Photoshop/InDesign

    Hello,
    So I've had this problem since I got the computer, but it has gotten much worse recently. After I work in photoshop and indesign for a few hours, I minimize both programs and the computer freezes for a good 4 or 5 minutes, even my winamp music player starts skipping. I'm thinking its the RAM that needs time to dump out the data and its doing it very slow.
    I have:
    Q8200 2.33 ghz overclocked at 2.51
    8BG of RAM
    ATI EAH4850 512MB
    I'm thinking it might the overclocking or the Not so high quality of RAM sticks. please let me know of any other suggestions.
    Thank you

    Thank you for the response. I disabled the overclocking and unchecked Export Clipboard. It seems to be a bit faster, but I haven't tried it extensively yet. I'm running XP x64, if that makes any difference.

  • I use iTunes Radio via AppleTV - after I've been connected and listening for a few minutes, the TV will sych with the camera roll on my daugter's iTouch (but the music keeps playing).  How do I prevent this?

    I use iTunes Radio via AppleTV - after I've been connected and listening a few minutes, the TV will snych with my daughter's iTouch camera roll (but the music will keep playing)?  How do I prevent this?

    How do I prevent this?
    Set a password or onscreen code for Airplay to the Apple TV:
    Settings > AirPlay > Onscreen Code > On
    Settings > AirPlay > Password > [set password]
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht5517

Maybe you are looking for