My Mac is set to ask the password 5 seconds after it goes to sleep or the screen saver kicks in.

Next, click the General tab, tick the box next to “Require password after sleep or screen saver begins,” and then click the pop-up menu and choose an option: Immediately, 5 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes, 15 minutes, 1 hour, 4 hours, or 8 hours. Now click the lock icon and type in your macOS administrator password to unlock the settings. Doing that will prevent others from using your computer if you, say, press the key combination to hide what’s on your computer’s screen or leave the machine unattended for a short period of time.įirst, launch System Preferences on your Mac and then hit the Security & Privacy preference pane. Requiring macOS password after display sleepĪs a precaution, you may want to make some customizations so that macOS requires your Mac user account’s password after the screen goes blank. If you have a MacBook with Touch ID, pressing Control + Power or Option + Power or Command + Power or Fn + Power keys also seem to lock the Mac, and then you can press Esc or click Cancel to turn off the screen.

If your Mac just locks and shows the password screen, press the Esc key or click Cancel to turn off the screen.Īs mentioned, this is a great way to save battery on Mac notebooks without having to set up a blank screen saver, prevent a bystander from seeing what’s on your screen, and other use cases.īesides the above key combinations, you can also press Control + Command + Q and then hit the Esc button to lock and turn off your Mac’s screen. Pressing the shortcut will instantly fade to black both the built-in display and any external screens connected to this Mac and shut off their backlighting. At any time, press Shift + Control + Eject, or Shift + Control + Power on newer Mac models. How to quickly turn off your Mac’s screen If you don’t want a bystander to read what’s on your Mac’s screen or just want to temporarily shut off the display-for instance, to save battery-you can take advantage of several built-in macOS features.Īs it turns out, macOS makes your life easier by providing a dedicated keyboard shortcut to quickly turn off Mac’s display without having to define a screen saver or use dedicated third-party applications.

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