131

This was working on older Mac using CtrlShiftPower. But this doesn't work on the new Macbook Pro 2016 with touch bar. Can someone please help. I want to lock my Mac without putting it to sleep.

Improve this question

10 Answers 10

Reset to default
148

you can add the sleep function to the touch bar through system preferences > keyboard > customize control strip and then drag the sleep icon to the touch bar, allowing you to put it to sleep by pressing 1 button.

Improve this answer
10
  • 22
    Just found there is a lock button as well which is what i was looking for. Thanks.
    – KD.
    Nov 18, 2016 at 5:08
  • 11
    Well, this is nice, but does anybody know a non-touchbar way to lock it? Accidentally touching the lock button is annoying.
    – toabi
    Jan 31, 2017 at 11:51
  • 8
    @toabi Don't place it in the "default" group; While editing the touchbar, expand it using the '<' icon, then place the "Lock Screen" button to the right of "Siri". Now, you lock the screen by expanding without a possibility of getting locked by fat-fingers. The trade-off of course is it's two touches to lock instead of one.
    – Tommy Knowlton
    Feb 4, 2017 at 0:47
  • 1
    @toabi See my new answer below.
    – JBallin
    Mar 29, 2017 at 6:07
  • 1
    Of course: close the lid. Wake-from-sleep triggers require-unlock. But often I don't want it to go to sleep, just to be secure while I walk away (and while it continues the current process). Then, the most accessible method I've found is to place the lock icon on the touch bar.
    – Tommy Knowlton
    Aug 25, 2017 at 1:14
104

Activate Lock Screen: control⌘Q

Other Options: Add Screensaver/Sleep/Screen Lock button(s) to Touch Bar (instructions below)

Personal Choice: "Hot Corners" to activate Screensaver

How To Add "Screen Lock" to Touch Bar "Control Strip"

  1. Settings → Keyboard
  2. "Expand Control Strip" on touch bar by clicking arrow on the left of the 4th icon from the right of your touch bar.
  3. "Customize Control Strip..." > Drag Screen Lock somewhere onto the touch bar (of the expanded control strip view)
  4. Settings → Keyboard → Press Fn key to → Expand Control Strip (assuming you don't use Fn keys for other things)
  5. Hold fn and press the "Screen Lock" icon (in any app/view) to lock your screen!

TIP: Put "Screen Lock" on far left (same side as fn) = lock screen with one hand.

Improve this answer
5
  • Haha, jeah that's what I've been doing for a while now too :) It's the best.
    – toabi
    Mar 29, 2017 at 10:11
  • so how do you turn the screen off on lock like the old command key combo did?
    – xref
    Apr 12, 2018 at 2:47
  • @xref what do you mean by "turn the screen off on lock". Have you tried the "sleep" button on the touch bar?
    – JBallin
    Apr 12, 2018 at 3:45
  • @JBallin sleep is a different feature, drives are spun down, network is disconnected, computer takes much longer to come back when you're ready to work again. The old ctrl+shift+pwr combo didn't do those things and was more akin to the High Sierra hot-corner action "put display to sleep"
    – xref
    Apr 12, 2018 at 16:54
  • I would prob do lock screen command then hit cancel on the bottom of login
    – JBallin
    Apr 12, 2018 at 18:29
7

I would recommend using BetterTouchTool for this. It also includes a lot of other useful features for shortcuts, gestures, touch bar, etc. Once you've started using it, you'll never want to live without.

Improve this answer
4
  • And window snapping too! I've been using it for years, it's awesome!
    – Dogoku
    Feb 5, 2017 at 3:22
  • How does Better Touch Tool help with the lock process? Can you provide an example for how it helps in this specific case? I have it installed and use it primarily for window management, but would like to understand how it supports the screen lock process.
    – nwinkler
    Jul 21, 2017 at 11:36
  • 1
    @nwinkler Sorry for the late response! BetterTouchTool (BTT) allows you to create your own shortcuts, so I mapped the 'OPT+CMD+L' combination to the 'Lock screen' action. That is exactly what the OP wanted to do: locking his MacBook with his keyboard.
    – TheLeonKing
    Aug 20, 2017 at 21:00
  • @Algorithm_NL, OP wanted to sleep display, ie turn off display without sleeping mac. That's not locking.
    – Anton Novoselov
    Nov 14, 2020 at 6:34
7

I'm using Alfred productivity app (launcher) for sleeping the computer, starting screen saver or turning off the screens. Screen shot of the Alfred command bar

Improve this answer
3
  • 1
    Thats like typing 5 letters compared to one tap on touch bar lock icon. Just saying.
    – KD.
    Oct 26, 2017 at 11:21
  • 1
    @KD. it's faster for me to type those 5 letters than to move my finger to the touch bar.
    – Abdo
    Apr 12, 2018 at 10:08
  • 1
    The more you use the command, the less you need to type. For example I need to just activate Alfred and type 's' and it will offer me "screen saver" as the first option because I use it very often.
    – Timo
    Apr 12, 2018 at 10:28
4

I haven't found anything on High Sierra comparable to the old ctrl+shift+power combo, which would not sleep your computer but would turn off your display. The new ctrl+cmd+q combo and the touchbar "lock screen" button just takes you to the login screen but leaves your display on.

The closest thing I can find is the hot corner action "Put Display to Sleep" which also locks your screen, but keeps the network connected and seems to most closely replicate the pre HS behavior.

Improve this answer
2

It works from the terminal using the command "pmset displaysleepnow".

I wrapped this line in an applescript: 'do shell script "pmset displaysleepnow"' and saved it as an app.

If you use any launcher app (I use Hotkey from the app store) you can assign any keyboard shortcut to this applescript.

Improve this answer
1

http://osxdaily.com/2017/02/22/screen-lock-macbook-pro-touch-bar/

This is the best solution for locking your desktop with a MBP that has a Touch Bar

Improve this answer
1

Just for posting my own solution. It might not work for you if you don't want to install additional software.

The goal is to add a short-cut to turn off the screen and lock the computer at the same time for MacBooks with touch bar.

Just install BetterTouchTool, and create a keyboard shortcut 'Ctrl + Shift + Del' for turning off the screen.

Improve this answer
1
  • I don't see an option to turn off screen, only to lock it. =(
    – hryamzik
    Aug 9, 2019 at 14:07
0

An alternative method would be to use "Hot Corners". Simply go to System Preferences > Desktop & Screen Saver > Hot Corners, select "Lock Screen" from the drop-down menu for the desired corner.

To use: drag your mouse to the selected corner, which will put lock your screen.

I prefer this method to the "ctrl-cmd-Q" method, since you don't need to remember a key-combo.

Hot Corners

Improve this answer
-2

Ctrl + Command + Q

You can see this if you look in the Apple menu.

Improve this answer
1

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .