How to Lock your Mac Screen with an iPhone

While Apple Watch does allow you to unlock your Mac without entering the password, there is no way to remotely lock your Mac. One workaround to this problem is to use third-party apps such asMacIDandNearLock. But if you are looking for a native way to remotely lock your Mac using your iPhone, you may use apps such as Shortcutify. It usesSiri Shortcutsto set everything up, so you can actually ask Siri on iPhone to lock and unlock your Mac. Before we begin, there are a few steps to set up everything but it would only take a few minutes and I’ll keep the description as thorough as possible.

Step 1. Install Shortcutify on your iPhone

shortcutify app on iphone

First, install theShortcutify appon your iPhone. Also, make sure you’re running the latest iOS and have theShortcuts appis installed on your iPhone. Once you have the apps installed and ready open Shortcutify.

Step 2. Find your Mac’s local IP Address

This method only works on local Wifi so make sure your Mac is connected to the Wifi. If you don’t know the IP address of your Mac, go toSystem Preferences> Network> Your IP Address. Note down the IP Address, we’ll need it later.

If you need help finding out your IP address, you cancheck out this guide here.

find the IP address of the mac

As the shortcut would essentially log in to your computer remotely, you would have to enable Remote Login feature on your Mac first. To do this, go toSystem Preferences> Sharing> Enable Remote Login.

Step 4. Setup Shortcutify app

Now, open the Shortcutify app on your iPhone and tap the Mac option, it would ask you toenter the IP address of your mac and login credentials. Enter the details correctly and proceed.

After that, we need toenable the accessibility settings on the Mac, to do this, tap the Accessibility button in the app on your iPhone.

Enable remote login on your mac

It should prompt a dialog box on your Mac. Simply navigate toSystem preferences> Security and Privacy> Privacy> Accessibility> enable “sshd-keygen-wrapper”.

Click the Padlock to lock the changes.

Step 5. Setup the Shortcuts

You can do a variety of things with this app such as capturing screenshots, toggling apps, and injecting keystrokes. However, we’ll focus on locking the Mac. Open the Shortcuts app and tap the + button on the top right corner tocreate a new shortcutandtap Add Action.

Search for macOS: lock screenin the search bar and tap the action toadd it to your Shortcut. Tap next to proceed to the next page.

setup the shortcutify app

Give your shortcut a nameand you’re done. I named my shortcut “lock my mac” and every time I run this shortcut, it will lock the mac. You can even ask Siri to do it for you.

Unlock your Mac with iPhone

If you want to set up a Siri Shortcut to unlock your Mac with the iPhone, doing it is just as simple. You just need to create another shortcut andadd macOS: Wake and Log In action to your shortcut. It would require your password, so add it in the text field and save your shortcut. You would be able to unlock your Mac by simply tapping the shortcut or asking Siri to run the unlock Shortcut.

Closing Words

This was a quick way to set up your iPhone to unlock and lock the Mac with just a simple command. I agree it has a few steps but it’s a one time process and you’d certainly enjoy it. Let me know if you face any challenges while setting it up.

Also Read:6 Best Siri Shortcuts Apps for Power Users

Works as an in-house Writer at TechWiser and focuses on the latest smart consumer electronics. Closely follows the latest trends in consumer IoT and how it affects our daily lives. You can follow him on Twitter. Yes, he sometimes speaks in Third Person.

How to Lock your Mac Screen with an iPhone