One of the biggest hurdles my users have is a way to quickly lock their Mac screen when they step away from their desk.
One of the biggest hurdles my users have is a way to quickly lock their Mac screen when they step away from their desk. We have to maintain PCI compliance, so locking our screen to keep data secure is an absolute must. Windows users have the handy Windows+L shortcut to lock their screen, but Macs don't. Hot corners are handy, but when you have multiple external displays, sometimes the corner is really far off to the side and not always easy to hit.
A solution I've come up with (and other folks probably have as well) is to use Automator to create an Action, save the Action to Services, then assign it a shortcut in System Preferences. Here's how that works.
1. Open up Automator on your Mac. In the Library, find the Action called "Start Screensaver." Drag it over to the right-hand side of the app into the workflow area.
Select "no input" for "Service receives" and "any application." Save this service with a handy name that you'll recognize, like "Start Screensaver." Rocket science!
2. Open System Preferences and head to Keyboard > Shortcuts. Scroll down until you see the screensaver Action you created.
3. Assign a key combination so the Action. This will probably be the hardest part, since most combinations of Command, Ctrl, and the L key are in use by the system or applications (damn you, Safari). I found Command+Option+Shift+L was available and works in just about every app and the Finder, so I use that.
Once you set that key combination, you can test out the shortcut. It should then start up the screensaver. Make sure you also have password locking turned on in the Security & Privacy settings.
A solution I've come up with (and other folks probably have as well) is to use Automator to create an Action, save the Action to Services, then assign it a shortcut in System Preferences. Here's how that works.
1. Open up Automator on your Mac. In the Library, find the Action called "Start Screensaver." Drag it over to the right-hand side of the app into the workflow area.
Select "no input" for "Service receives" and "any application." Save this service with a handy name that you'll recognize, like "Start Screensaver." Rocket science!
2. Open System Preferences and head to Keyboard > Shortcuts. Scroll down until you see the screensaver Action you created.
Once you set that key combination, you can test out the shortcut. It should then start up the screensaver. Make sure you also have password locking turned on in the Security & Privacy settings.
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