Hand over the screen
Show a deck or a video to someone across the desk. Stray taps and keys do nothing until you unlock.
Lock the input, not the Mac.
One shortcut freezes your keyboard, mouse and trackpad. Agents, builds and downloads keep running, and the Mac stays awake.
Try it on this page
Wipe it, hand it over, walk away.
Lives in the menu bar
No Dock icon and no window to manage. Lock from the menu or with the shortcut.
Wipe the keyboard
Clean the keys and trackpad with the Mac on. No stray text, no accidental clicks.
Small hands welcome
Put a cartoon on and let them watch. Mashing the keys changes nothing.
A night, locked.
Lock the keys before bed and come back to finished work. Here is what happens in between.
-
You press ⌃[ and go to bed.
Keyboard, mouse and trackpad stop responding. The screen dims a little and the lock badge appears.
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The agent keeps working.
Builds, test runs and downloads carry on. ScreenLock tells macOS not to idle into sleep while it is locked.
-
The display goes dark.
That is fine, and it saves power. Only the display sleeps. The Mac behind it keeps going.
-
The cat walks across the keys.
Every key press is swallowed. Nothing gets typed, nothing gets clicked, nothing gets closed.
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You press ⌃[ again.
Input comes back. The run finished hours ago and everything is where you left it.
Your shortcut, your rules.
This panel is live. Record a shortcut, choose how dark the screen goes, then lock this page with it.
Press it, or click the keys.
The Mac app also keeps the Mac awake while locked, and can open at login.
Shortcut
Toggle lock
Press the shortcut once to lock, and again to unlock. Click the field, then press a key with at least one modifier (⌘ ⌥ ⌃ ⇧); function keys work on their own.
Overlay
Show lock badge
Safety
Allow emergency unlock by holding ⎋ for 2 seconds
Off by default so that only your shortcut unlocks the screen.
Two ways to install.
Same app, two engines. The difference is how much stays blocked while it is locked.
Mac App Store
Runs in Apple's sandbox. Nothing to grant.
- Permissions
- None
- While locked
- Spotlight, screenshots and media keys still work
- Emergency unlock
- Hold esc for two seconds, if turned on
- Updates
- Through the App Store
Direct download
Signed and notarised. Blocks everything.
- Permissions
- Accessibility, asked once
- While locked
- Every key and click is blocked, system shortcuts included
- Emergency unlock
- ⌘⌥esc, if turned on
- Updates
- Download the latest disk image from this page
Both need macOS 13 Ventura or later.
Questions
Anything else, email [email protected].
Is this the macOS lock screen?
No. The lock screen asks for your password and lets the Mac sleep. ScreenLock only blocks input, keeps everything on screen running and keeps the Mac awake. It is a convenience, not security: anyone who knows the shortcut can unlock it.
Does it see what I type?
No. It watches for your shortcut and, while locked, drops input events. Nothing is logged or stored, and the app makes no network connections at all.
What if I forget my shortcut?
Turn on emergency unlock in Settings before you need it. Then holding esc for two seconds (App Store) or pressing ⌘⌥esc (direct download) unlocks as well.
Will my Mac still sleep?
Not on its own while locked. Closing the lid or a scheduled sleep still puts it to sleep, and the display can turn off as usual.
The shortcut does nothing.
On the direct download, make sure ScreenLock is ticked in System Settings, Privacy & Security, Accessibility, then quit and reopen it. The support page covers the rest.