Windows 10 comes with a ton of features and settings to help you manage your work and personalize the way your computer works. As computers become personal over time, there are a number of ways to protect your data and prevent others from accessing it. One such way is auto-lock, which is great but can be annoying at times.
Some users don’t like to use it because it can interfere with the way they work. Imagine you are staring at the screen, thinking about some point when all of a sudden, the lock kicks in automatically. You can disable the auto-lock feature in Windows 10 or manage it better.
Let’s see how to do that.
What is auto-lock?
Auto-Lock prevents unauthorized access to your computer, thus protecting your personal files and other data in your absence. While you can lock your computer manually (press Windows key + L), it’s easy to forget it every time you leave your computer. That’s when auto-lock comes into play.
Depending on the timer you have set, it will turn off the screen and lock the computer. The only way to unlock is to enter the set password or pin. It’s a neat concept, one that I like and always use on my laptop. I’m a bit paranoid when it comes to privacy and security. Blame all the hacking news that I still read these days.
Why use it or not
As mentioned earlier, you should use the auto-lock feature on your Windows 10 computer to protect it from unauthorized access. Anyone can steal your data and sell or use it against you or install unwanted software, malware, or spyware.
Some people have the nasty habit of snooping on other people’s personal lives. Auto-lock can prevent that to some extent. It can also save power, which is especially useful when the laptop is drawing power from the battery.
There are several reasons to disable auto-lock. For example, you live alone and no one can access your computer. Maybe your office is always locked when you’re not around. And you trust your partner won’t access your computer without your permission. In such cases, locking and unlocking the computer frequently can be frustrating.
Notably, you can set Windows to show upcoming calendar events, weather reports, unread emails, and other important information on the lock screen. It’s not just a beautiful wallpaper anymore.
How to turn it off or on
Right-click anywhere on your desktop and select Personalize. You can also open it from Settings by pressing Windows key + I and clicking Personalize there.
Click Screen Time Settings under Lock Screen in the left sidebar.
There are two options here. One is Monitor and the other is Sleep. Select Never in both under ‘Power on battery, turn off later’ and ‘When plugged in, turn off later’.
Your computer will never turn off the screen and automatically lock or go to sleep. It only happens when the screen is off and the computer goes to sleep that the auto-lock feature works.
Hack subscription and group policy
If the above solution doesn’t work for you, there are two hacks to enforce these settings on Windows 10. The registry hack is more suitable for Windows Home Edition while Group Policy is more suitable for Windows Pro.
In Windows Search, type re-edit from the Start menu. Navigate to the following directory structure:
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows
Right-click the Windows folder and select Key under New.
Name this new key Personalization. Right click on this new key file and select DWORD (32-bit) Value under New.
Name this file NoLockScreen. Now double-click this DWORD file to open it and enter 1 in the Value data field.
Switch to the Group Policy trick, search gpedit.msc in the Start menu and open it. Navigate to the following folder — Administrative Templates > Control Panel > Personalization.
Double click the ‘Don’t show lock screen’ file to open it.
Select Enabled from the pop-up and click Apply to save the changes.
That’s all, guys.
How to Manage AutoLock in Windows Desktop
Instead of turning the Display and Sleep settings to Never like we did above, set it to a number that’s comfortable for you. You can always tweak it later to a sweet spot. I set it to Never when plugged in and 10 minutes on battery power. My laptop is always plugged in when I work from home because I don’t have to worry about unauthorized access to it.
Of course, things may be different for you, depending on where you live and work. Another important setting here is the battery or power settings, where you can manage the Hibernate and Sleep settings. Using a combination of the two, you can come up with a plan that works for you.
Lock, Stock and two potions
The auto-lock feature is pretty good, and depending on your work environment, it can be very useful. However, if you want to turn off the auto-lock feature, there are still ways to do it. If the settings don’t work for you, try the registry editing trick and the group policy editing trick. Should do that.
Next: Want to learn what is dynamic key in Windows 10 or how to use dynamic key? Check out the next post to know how to get the most out of this feature on your Windows 10 computer.
Categories: How to
Source: thpttranhungdao.edu.vn/en/
