How to Set a Custom Lock Screen Message on Your Mac in Case It's Lost

[MacRumors]

You can set a custom message to appear on the lock screen of your Mac, which is super useful if you ever misplace or lose your Mac. It lets people see who the Mac belongs to as soon as it's opened up, and there's no question about ownership.

You will need an administrator account to create a lock screen message on your Mac, but it's super easy to do.

1. Click on the "?" icon in the menu bar.
2. Select System Preferences.
3. Choose Security & Privacy.
4. Select the "General" tab.
5. Click on the lock icon at the bottom of the window.
6. Enter your admin name and password.
   
7. Choose "Set Lock Message..."
8. Enter your desired message.
   

It's useful to add contact details here, like your email address and phone number or the email address and phone number of someone who can easily get in touch with you in an emergency situation.

What the lock screen message looks like when your Mac is locked.​

If you misplace or Mac or have it stolen, this puts your contact information front and center as soon as your Mac is opened up, so whoever has it can see who it belongs to even before you activate Lost Mode using iCloud. It's also potentially useful in an emergency if someone needs to know who you are and how to get in contact with a loved one.

I'm personally always paranoid about losing my MacBook or having it taken at some location like an airport security lane, so this is a nice way to have instantly identifiable info readily available.

Article Link: How to Set a Custom Lock Screen Message on Your Mac in Case It's Lost

 

[Peapod]

Juli, you stole Jenny's number!

 

[tigres]

I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you're looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money... but what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my MacBook Pro 15" go now, that will be the end of it - I will not look for you, I will not pursue you... but if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you... and I will kill you

 

[keysofanxiety]

I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you're looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money... but what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my MacBook Pro 15" go now, that will be the end of it - I will not look for you, I will not pursue you... but if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you... and I will kill you

Wouldn't work I'm afraid. There's a character limit.

 

[Kabeyun]

Juli, you stole Jenny's number!

The second I saw that I knew I’d be beaten to the punch. Well done!

For those under 40, here’s a dose of 80s goodness:

 

[OlliFlamme]

I had my macbook stolen on the bus from the terminal to the airplane, as the damn thing didn’t move for about 20 minutes (Frankfurt Airport).
The horror I felt when it was gone, is hard to describe. Luckily I had a firmware password on it, but that didn’t result in me getting the beloved thing back (MB pro 2016 touch bar 15”).

Measures taken:
Encrypted hard drive
Firmware password

You may like the above tip, but honestly... i find it a quirky measure to raise your hopes.

I am sure my immaculate retina screen was the main value of my laptop, however sad it may sound.

Apple should render the parts incompatible after dismembering them. In a way or another, having a ID in the main parts, and obliging the compatibility of them with each other, would be my main wish.

Sorry, fellow humans with wrong intentions will not feel any empathy with such a message ...

 

[PBG4 Dude]

You know times are lean when rumor sites start making their own content!

Just kidding, I’ve been loving the new tips and tricks articles you’ve been releasing.

 

[Solomani]

Juli I've got your number!
I need to make you mine….

 

[Apple_Robert]

In my opinion, it is not a good idea to implement this feature. It can make it easier for a thief to hijack your identity, not to mention giving the person more clues in possibly finding where you live, and possibly rob your home.

 

[csurfr]

Juli I've got your number!
I need to make you mine….

Ah damn, you beat me to it.

 

[chucker23n1]

Juli just wanted an opportunity to show off her two Apple Watches.

In my opinion, it is not a good idea to implement this feature. It can make it easier for a thief to hijack your identity, not to mention giving the person more clues in possibly finding where you live, and possibly rob your home.

I doubt there's a lot of overlap between laptop thieves and home burglars.

 

[csurfr]

Juli just wanted an opportunity to show off her two Apple Watches.



I doubt there's a lot of overlap between laptop thieves and home burglars.

Sometimes you just have to diversify your portfolio.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Juli just wanted an opportunity to show off her two Apple Watches.



I doubt there's a lot of overlap between laptop thieves and home burglars.

Yea, she was bragging with her watches.

My point was, don't give people too much information, especially thieves. What I spoke of earlier happens a lot more than people realize.

I know Juli meant well but, it is a bad idea, in my opinion.

 

[Florpy]

As usual, Option-Return adds a new line for nicer formatting.

 

[Solomani]

Juli has 2 Apple Watches. She'd be the type to buy her man a $9500 watch band for his birthday.

She's a keeper.

 

[jclo]

Yea, she was bragging with her watches.

My point was, don't give people too much information, especially thieves. What I spoke of earlier happens a lot more than people realize.

I know Juli meant well but, it is a bad idea, in my opinion.

I personally started using this feature after I was in an airport security line and a woman grabbed my laptop. I saw her and got it back without proving ownership, but if I'd needed to, this would have been an easy way since my name is right there.

This is a valid criticism, though, and some people may not want to use the lock screen message for this reason, but I do think people should know the option is there.

You can also use a Google Voice number and an email with non-identifying info, which will provide reasonable security. I just used a standard phone number and my own email address as an example here. Less identifying contact information is absolutely a valid way to implement this without giving anything away.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I personally started using this feature after I was in an airport security line and a woman grabbed my laptop. I saw her and got it back without proving ownership, but if I'd needed to, this would have been an easy way since my name is right there.

This is a valid criticism, though, and some people may not want to use the lock screen message for this reason, but I do think people should know the option is there.

You can also use a Google Voice number and an email with non-identifying info, which will provide reasonable security. I just used a standard phone number and my own email address as an example here. Less identifying contact information is absolutely a valid way to implement this without giving anything away.

I am all for people knowing about the feature.
You brought up an aspect re: Google Voice that is an excellent alternative. That kind of route I support.

 

[gregbenj]

I prefer to get some motivation when I open my laptop

 

[chucker23n1]

I personally started using this feature after I was in an airport security line and a woman grabbed my laptop. I saw her and got it back without proving ownership, but if I'd needed to, this would have been an easy way since my name is right there.

This is a valid criticism, though, and some people may not want to use the lock screen message for this reason, but I do think people should know the option is there.

You can also use a Google Voice number and an email with non-identifying info, which will provide reasonable security. I just used a standard phone number and my own email address as an example here. Less identifying contact information is absolutely a valid way to implement this without giving anything away.

I wonder if a good compromise would be something like "If found, please hand off to an Apple Store"? I don't know how Apple feels about that, but if your Mac is registered with Apple, this might be a reasonable compromise. Apple will know it's yours, and the finder won't be able to contact you.

 

[narenh]

Who on earth would steal anything in an airport security line?? You’re surrounded by officers, paying attention to your items the whole time, there are cameras everywhere, and everyone’s identity has just been verified.

But also you don’t take laptops out if you have PreCheck. So just do that lol

 

[jimthing]

Is there any Google Voice number equivalent for those of us outside the US... ?
Always wondered. :-/

 

[ignatius345]

Related: anybody here use Prey?

https://www.preyproject.com

A friend of mine said he was able to recover a stolen Mac using it, and I have to say it's pretty nice. Just using the free version, I was able to set up a geofence for my laptop, which now pings me if it leaves a given location. It's very hard to see it's installed, so when the thief connects to wifi in any way, it silently sends you location reports and even photos from the webcam.

 

[canuckRus]

I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you're looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money... but what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my MacBook Pro 15" go now, that will be the end of it - I will not look for you, I will not pursue you... but if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you... and I will kill you

Liam Neeson?