Geek Posted February 10, 2011 Posted February 10, 2011 <div class="KonaBody"><p><img src="http://osxdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/lock-screen-mac.jpg" alt="lock mac desktop" title="lock mac desktop" width="266" height="137" class="alignright size-full wp-image-12626" /> We showed you <a href="http://osxdaily.com/2011/01/17/lock-screen-mac/">how to lock your Mac screen</a> with a keystroke, but you can also access the same desktop lock through a little known Mac OS X menubar item. </p> <p>Let’s enable this hidden feature:</p> <ul> <li>Launch “Keychain Access” located in /Applications/Utilities/</li> <li>From the ‘Keychain Access’ menu, open Preferences</li> <li>Select the checkbox next to “Show Status in Menu Bar”</li> </ul> <p><img src="http://osxdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/keychain-lock-screen-menu.jpg" alt="keychain lock screen menu" title="keychain lock screen menu" width="610" height="170" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-12627" /></p> <p>Now that the lock menubar item is enabled, you’ll find a little lock icon in your menu bar. Once the menu item is enabled, just click on the lock icon and drag down to “Lock Screen” to immediately lock your Mac OS X desktop. </p> <p>To regain access to the Mac, you’ll need to enter your login credentials.</p> <p>There’s other ways to quickly lock your Mac, including the <a href="http://osxdaily.com/2011/01/17/lock-screen-mac/">aforementioned keystroke</a> and <a href="http://osxdaily.com/2007/04/23/ask-os-x-daily-how-do-i-lock-a-mac-os-x-workstation/">using screensaver hot corners</a>, but for many users a simple menu pull down item is the easiest method.</p> <p>This is a nice hidden feature of Mac OS X and I’m not sure why it’s buried in the Keychain utility rather than a system preference. If you’re wanting to dig a little deeper you can find other uses for Keychain including <a href="http://osxdaily.com/2010/12/10/forgot-wireless-password/">finding a forgotten wireless password</a> and discovering web login credentials.</p> </div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/rCxCmSu7L_16xjVjts_hPBbs6RE/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/rCxCmSu7L_16xjVjts_hPBbs6RE/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/rCxCmSu7L_16xjVjts_hPBbs6RE/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/rCxCmSu7L_16xjVjts_hPBbs6RE/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?a=ZkSz2PzAWZA:_2tXHmXK0Jc:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?a=ZkSz2PzAWZA:_2tXHmXK0Jc:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?i=ZkSz2PzAWZA:_2tXHmXK0Jc:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?a=ZkSz2PzAWZA:_2tXHmXK0Jc:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?i=ZkSz2PzAWZA:_2tXHmXK0Jc:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?a=ZkSz2PzAWZA:_2tXHmXK0Jc:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?a=ZkSz2PzAWZA:_2tXHmXK0Jc:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/osxdaily/~4/ZkSz2PzAWZA" height="1" width="1"/> View the full article
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