X

4 ways to lock your Windows 10 PC

No Dynamic Lock? No problem.

Matt Elliott Senior Editor
Matt Elliott is a senior editor at CNET with a focus on laptops and streaming services. Matt has more than 20 years of experience testing and reviewing laptops. He has worked for CNET in New York and San Francisco and now lives in New Hampshire. When he's not writing about laptops, Matt likes to play and watch sports. He loves to play tennis and hates the number of streaming services he has to subscribe to in order to watch the various sports he wants to watch.
Expertise Laptops, desktops, all-in-one PCs, streaming devices, streaming platforms
Matt Elliott

Maybe you haven't installed the Windows 10 Creators Update yet. Or maybe you have but don't want to rely on Bluetooth and the new Dynamic Lock feature to lock your PC when you leave its vicinity. No matter your reason for locking your PC manually, you should know that you've got four ways to lock your PC. They are:

1. Windows-L

Hit the Windows key and the L key on your keyboard. Keyboard shortcut for the lock!

2. Ctrl-Alt-Del

Press Ctrl-Alt-Delete. On the menu that pops up, click Lock. Boom, done.

3. Start button

Tap or click the Start button in the bottom-left corner. Click your user icon and then select Lock.

win-10-lock.jpg
Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET

4. Auto lock via screen saver

You can set your PC to lock automatically when the screen saver pops up. Go to Control Panel > Appearance & Personalization > Change screen saver and then check the box for On resume, display logon screen. You can also set a time for how long your PC should wait before starting the screen saver. Now, when you exit out of the screensaver, you'll need to enter your system password to get back in.

screeesaver.jpg
Enlarge Image
screeesaver.jpg
Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET

With Windows 10 Creators Update, Microsoft moved this screen saver setting from the Control Panel to Settings. You can find it by going to Settings > Personalization > Lock screen > Screen saver settings.