Q: How do I lock the screen or put a computer to sleep using Mac OS X?

Answer

There are different ways to lock a Mac computer screen - that is, making the screen go to "sleep" and then requiring a password to "wake it up." This is a good habit to have when leaving a computer during a short period of time rather than completely booting down/shutting down the computer or even logging off.

When to lock a computer:

• When stepping away from your computer for longer than a few minutes
• To save energy
• If the workstation is in an open area and you are not always at your desk

Three different ways to lock a computer:

• Go to the Apple menu and select Sleep
• One of the corners of your screen can be a Hot Corner. Setting the pointer of your mouse in the Hot Corner will put the screen to sleep. See System Preferences > Desktop & Screen Saver > Screen Saver > Hot Corners. Then activate a corner by selecting Put Display to Sleep from the drop down menu corresponding to that corner.

Tip! It is recommended to have a password set up with your username to log into your computer from sleep or from the shut down state. You may already have a password set up. If you do, do not keep the password written down anywhere near the workstation and do not make it too easy to guess. Setting or Changing a Password on Mac OS X.