How to Lock Windows 10 Version 1809 Automatically During Idle

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Windows 10 can lock the system based on your settings

Locking the system is something most Windows 10 users do when leaving their computer, and this is a feature that comes in particularly handy in office environments.

Blocking unauthorized access to a Windows 10 computer is thus possible without having to shut down the computer, close apps, and thus interrupt your work, and whenever you return to the system, you can just enter your password, PIN, or have the face scanned with Windows Hello to unlock it.

In Windows 10, you can easily lock the system by just pressing the Windows key + L shortcut, and when it comes to further customizing this feature, there are several options that can’t be accessed from the Settings screen.

For example, you can configure Windows 10 to automatically lock the system after a certain period of inactivity. This is without a doubt a welcome option in those moments when you forget to lock the computer, thus making sure nobody can access the files stored on the machine without a password.

There are two different ways to configure the automatic lockdown of the system, and in both cases you’ll have to define the inactivity time that will trigger the lock. An administrator account is required, and the first method can only be used on Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise.

 

Method #1 – Local Security Policy

Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise users can set up the idle time that would enable the Windows 10 locking feature from the Local Security Policy.

To launch it, type Local Security Policy in the Start menu or secpol.msc in Windows key + R dialog. Then, navigate to the following path:

Security Settings > Local Policies > Security Options

The right side of the screen groups all policies that are related to the security of the system, and the one that you need to double-click to change its configuration is called:

Interactive logon: Machine inactivity limit

In the Machine will be locked after field, you need to enter the idle time you want to use before the system will get locked. The time must be specified in seconds, and you can enter any value between 0 (the policy is disabled) and 599940 (9999 minutes).

You need to reboot your system for the policy to come into effect, and if you want to disable it, just change the value to 0.

Method #2 – Registry Editor

As said, the first method only works on Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise, but if you’re running the Home SKU, you can turn to the Registry Editor for the same task.

Launch the Registry Editor by typing its name in the Start menu or regedit.msc in the Run dialog (Windows key + R). Navigate to the following path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

The right side of the window groups all registry items that are related to the policies on your system, and once again, the one that you need to edit is called:

InactivityTimeoutSecs

If this key does not exist, you need to create it manually using the following steps:

Right-click in right pane > New > DWORD (32-bit Value) > InactivityTimeoutSecs

Double-click this item to change its value and once again, you need to enter a value between 0 (disabled) and 599940 (9999 minutes). Click OK, close the Registry Editor, and reboot your system to apply the new settings.

If you want to disable this automatic lockdown of the system at a later time, you can just change the value of the registry key to 0 or delete it (if you’ve created it manually).

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