Lock Your Mac From Your iPhone
Published 2026-09-26 · Updated 2026-10-01
You can lock your Mac from your iPhone when you walked away from an open laptop, left a Mac mini on a desk, or want to secure the machine before you leave the building. In Poket PC, the Lock tile on the Deck presses Control-Command-Q, the macOS Lock Screen shortcut, on the Mac in one tap — the same as choosing Lock Screen from the Apple menu, without mirroring the whole screen first.
You must be paired and connected. Poket PC does not work at the lock screen, so once the Mac is locked, someone has to unlock it at the Mac.
Before you use Lock
- Install the Poket PC helper on the Mac and finish pairing (How to Control Your Mac From Your iPhone).
- Allow Accessibility in System Settings › Privacy & Security › Accessibility so system actions can run.
- Open Poket PC on the iPhone and connect to the Mac.
Download the helper from /mac/. The iPhone app is available through the public TestFlight beta described on /beta/.
Lock in three taps
- Open the Poket PC iPhone app. It connects to your paired Mac on its own.
- Tap Deck in the switcher.
- Tap Lock.
The Mac shows its lock screen. Poket PC does not work past the lock screen, so the next step, unlocking, happens at the Mac.
Lock tile vs other Deck actions
The default deck in 1.0 has ten tiles: Music, Safari, Play/Pause, Previous, Next, Vol −, Vol +, Mute, Mission Control, and Lock. Lock is a system tile, not a media key.
Tap Edit on the Deck, then the + button, to add Sleep, Screensaver, Show Desktop, Brightness +, Brightness −, or a Notes launcher. In Edit mode, the minus badge removes a tile. Lock is not in the add list, so if you remove it, Reset brings back the whole default deck, Lock included.
Limits to understand
| Topic | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Unlock from phone | Not supported |
| Face ID before opening Poket PC | Planned, not in 1.0 |
| Lock while the Mac is asleep | Not possible: the Mac must be awake and connected |
| FileVault / firmware password | Unchanged: the lock screen follows your macOS settings |
For keeping the helper available after reboots (without implying lock-screen control), see Unattended Access on Your Mac.
Security
Lock is useful if your phone is trusted but someone might walk past the Mac. If your phone is lost, revoke it from the Mac menu bar so its session ends immediately. Poket PC does not yet require Face ID to open a session; keep your iPhone locked.
For volume and playback without locking, see Control Mac Volume From Your iPhone. For all tile types, see the Deck section in How to Control Your Mac From Your iPhone.
When Lock is the right choice
Lock from the phone fits short moments: you stepped into another room during a meeting, a child might touch the keyboard, or you left a Mac mini visible in a shared space. It is faster than opening Screen, finding the Apple menu, and choosing Lock Screen on a mirrored desktop.
It does not log out your user account, erase RAM, or replace FileVault. It is the same lock state you get from the keyboard or menu bar. If your organization requires full logout for compliance, use macOS logout locally; Poket PC does not expose a logout tile in 1.0.
The Sleep tile, which you can add from the Deck’s edit mode, puts the whole Mac to sleep. Poket PC has no wake control, so expect to lose the connection until the Mac wakes. The Screensaver tile starts the screen saver; whether a password is needed afterwards depends on your Mac’s Lock Screen settings. When you walk away and want a clear security boundary, choose Lock.
Frequently asked questions
How do I lock my Mac from my iPhone?
Connect to your Mac in Poket PC, open Deck, and tap the Lock tile. It presses Control-Command-Q on the Mac, the macOS shortcut for Lock Screen.
Can I unlock the Mac from the iPhone?
No. Poket PC does not support the lock screen, so once the Mac is locked, someone has to unlock it at the Mac.
Does Lock work away from home?
Yes, over the same encrypted session and relay as Screen.
Is Lock on the default Deck?
Yes. The default deck includes a Lock tile along with media keys, Mission Control, Music and Safari.
What if Lock does nothing?
Check that Accessibility is allowed for Poket PC on the Mac and that you are connected: the tiles dim while the app is not connected.