ARCHIVED: In Windows, how do I lock my workstation without logging off?
In Windows 8, 7, Vista, and XP, you can lock your workstation manually or by using your screen saver.
Note: The following may not cover all methods or variables pertaining to your computer, such as whether Fast User Switching is enabled or disabled. For details, see Microsoft Support; e.g., for Windows XP, see article 294317.
On this page:
- Manually locking your computer
- Locking your computer through the screen saver
- Unlocking your computer
Manually locking your computer
Five methods are available for manually locking your computer:
Method 1 (Windows 8 only)
From the Start screen, click or tap your account name in the upper-right corner, and then choose
.Method 2
To immediately lock your computer, press Win-l
(the letter L).
Method 3 (Windows Vista in non-Classic mode only)
In the
menu, click the lock icon.Method 4
Press Ctrl-Alt-Del
, and then click , , or .
Method 5
To create a desktop shortcut that will lock your computer when you double-click it:
- Right-click the desktop, select
Create Shortcut
wizard. , and then click
. This will open the - For the location of the item, type:
%windir%\System32\rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation
- Click .
- Type an appropriate name for this shortcut, and then click .
You will now have a shortcut on your desktop that will lock your computer when you double-click it.
Locking your computer through the screen saver
To set up your screen saver to automatically lock your computer:
- In Windows 8, 7, and Vista, right-click the desktop, and then select . In earlier versions, right-click the desktop, and then select .
- In Windows 8, 7, and Vista, in the
Personalization
window, select .In Windows XP, in the
Display Properties
window, select the tab. - From the drop-down list, select a screen saver file.
- In the "Wait:" field, set the amount of time you want the screen saver to wait for activity before starting.
- Depending on your version of Windows, check the appropriate box:
Click
. From now on, when the screen saver comes on, your workstation will be locked.
Unlocking your computer
Regardless of how you lock your computer, to unlock it, press
Ctrl-Alt-Del
. A window will appear where you can enter
the password for the username under which you're logged in.
Administrators for either the local computer or the domain can unlock a locked computer by entering their usernames and passwords at the login prompt. This will log the current user out, but will not log the administrator in. At this point, any user with login rights can log into the computer normally.
Note: If you are the local computer administrator, log into the local computer rather than the domain. Also, by using the administrator login to unlock the workstation, you will erase all unsaved work.
If your domain username is in the Administrators group, you can enter your domain name and domain password, and then select the proper domain from the drop-down list. You are not required to log into the local computer. This will also unlock the workstation and erase all unsaved work.
This is document acdt in the Knowledge Base.
Last modified on 2018-01-18 10:35:22.