Dynamic Lock is a Windows 11 feature that locks your computer when a connected Bluetooth device (your phone or wearable device) is out of range. The Dynamic Lock feature will lock your PC automatically even if you forget to use the Windows key + L shortcut when walking away.
How To Set Up Dynamic Lock In Windows 10
When I walked to the other side of my house, put my phone down and returned to my PC, I didn't see the lock screen even by the time I sat down -- but just before I started muttering nasty things about Bluetooth and betas, the PC suddenly locked.
If you regularly lock your PC when you leave your desk, then perhaps Dynamic Lock can be useful as a safety net, kicking in to lock your PC should you forget, perhaps when you run out of your office after receiving an email about free pizza in the conference room.
Dynamic Lock also forces you to rely on the connection mysteries of Bluetooth. You probably don't need me to tell you that Bluetooth connections can be far from reliable. Perhaps it's just a function of the beta or particular to my phone and laptop, but the connection dropped between my iPhone and my Windows laptop after Dynamic Lock locked the laptop. (This didn't happen for my colleague Sean Hollister, who used a Surface Book and Android phone.)
Each time I entered my password to unlock my laptop, the connection between my iPhone and PC dropped. The laptop kept reporting that the two were paired, but my iPhone showed them unconnected. Making matters worse, I couldn't simply tap to reconnect but had to remove the devices and go through the pairing process all over again.
I was also a little disappointed to learn there's no Dynamic Unlock part of the equation. The Dynamic Lock feature only locks your PC when you and your Bluetooth phone wander out of range. It doesn't magically unlock it when you get back to your desk. For that, you'll need a face-recognizing IR webcam and Windows Hello.
If you walk away from your Windows computer and forget to put it into lock mode, anyone can snoop through it until it locks on its own. To prevent that from happening, Windows has a feature called Dynamic Lock, which pairs your smartphone with the computer. When your PC detects that you have walked far enough away with your phone, it automatically locks Windows. This way, no one else can access it without the necessary login information. Here's how to enable the feature.
Now Dynamic Lock is set up, so the next time you walk out of Bluetooth range with your mobile device, the computer will lock automatically. Instead of continuing to sit on your desktop, Windows will instead open to the lock screen.
If you set up dynamic lock in Windows 10, the PC locks automatically when you move away from it. The PC and your smartphone are using Bluetooth connection to talk to each other. Whenever you move away from the computer with your smartphone, it is automatically locked. So no need to remember if you locked your computer or not.
The Creators Update brought a host of new features to the Windows 10 operating system. While a lot of these features are noteworthy and are touted everywhere you look, other features are less well known and remain in the shadows. Such is the case with the Dynamic Lock feature, which is designed to improve security by automatically locking your computer when you forget to do so manually. To accomplish this feat, the Dynamic Lock feature uses a Bluetooth connection to monitor the proximity between your PC and your phone. Once your phone moves out of the range of the Bluetooth Piconet, Dynamic Lock will automatically lock your computer.
So when you establish a piconet between your computer and your phone, the Dynamic Lock feature monitors that connection. As long as there is a link between the devices, Dynamic Lock is dormant. But once the connection is lost, Dynamic Lock becomes active and will lock your computer.
In my testing, I picked up my phone, walked to the other side of the house, set my phone down, walked back to my office, and sat down in my chair for a few moments before Dynamic Lock locked my computer.
Microsoft recently rolled out Windows 10 build 15031 to the Fast ring as a minor update part of the Creators Update. Among the new changes, the company officially introduced Dynamic Lock, which is a security feature that allows Windows 10 to automatically lock your device based on the proximity of your phone paired using Bluetooth.
After completing the steps, you should be able to walk with your phone away from your computer, and after 30 seconds your computer should lock automatically. However, remember that this security feature is meant to lock your PC when coming back, you'll need to enter your password to unlock it.
Did you know that Windows 11 can detect and lock your system after a few minutes of inactivity? The new Dynamic Lock feature automatically locks your computer when you move away. All you have to do is pair a Bluetooth-enabled Android device with your PC and complete the setup to make it work.
Dynamic Lock works by determining the RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) value of a Bluetooth paired device ( smartphone). If the paired device goes away from the device (out of range), Windows will detect and lock the system.
On the flip side, Dynamic Lock enabled system takes a good minute to detect and lock your computer after your paired device goes out of range. This creates a window of opportunity for anyone to access your system and prevent it from getting locked. So, an ideal security practice will require you to manually lock your system during the break. To quickly lock your Windows computer you can use the Win + L shortcut.
Dynamic Lock is a handy security feature for those who often forget to lock their PC when moving away. This makes it difficult for anyone to access your system without your knowledge. Additionally, turn on Secure Sign-In for your PC to add an extra layer of security.
Some organizations try to circumvent this problem by configuring PCs to automatically lock after a period of inactivity. However, even this solution has gaps. If a user leaves their PC without logging out, the PC will remain accessible for a time before the locking mechanism engages.
Thankfully, Windows has an alternative to inactivity-based locking mechanisms: Dynamic Lock. A Windows 10 and Windows 11 security feature, Dynamic Lock is designed to automatically lock a PC only when a user steps away.
If you have multiple phones paired with your PC, all of them are considered. That is, either phone will lock your PC if they stray too far. (I suspect this will be configurable via policy, if not end-user UI, in later builds.
Other than the built-in hardware, Windows Hello can work with different companion devices, such as Microsoft Band. These devices can trigger the Windows 10 unlock process when placed near a paired computer.
Now, all you need to lock or unlock your PC is just walk out of its Bluetooth range. The lock screen will appear after 30 seconds of wait. Meanwhile, if someone intervenes, the lock process is averted. So, use it wisely.
Windows Dynamic Lock is a neat feature in the Windows 10 Creators Update that smartly protects your data by recognizing when you are near your computer and when you are away. The way this works is that it pairs itself with your mobile phone and recognizes the distance at which you are located through a running Bluetooth connection. If your mobile phone goes beyond a distance of 6 feet from the computer, the functional algorithm automatically locks your PC to protect the privacy of your system and data.
The Windows Dynamic Lock is a very cool and useful feature to have enabled so that you never have to worry about your data being exposed when you suddenly or carelessly get up and walk away from your computer. It keeps track of your distance from your screen using the Bluetooth connection on your mobile phone, locking your screen after you cross a distance of 6 feet or leave the room (where there is a wall obstruction in between). Previously, Microsoft kept these features exclusive to its Windows phones but these features are now open to Android and iPhones as well, the latter of which was perhaps the most groundbreaking collaboration given the operating system integration rift maintained between the two by both companies.
Read NextFix: Could not open lock file /var/lib/dpkg/lock
How To Configure A PS3 Controller For Gaming With Your Windows PC
How to Setup and Configure your Android Smartwatch
How to set up and Configure your Google Home Smart Speakers
.no-icon:beforedisplay:none; By Alyssa ArfordOctober 2, 2020 4 minutes read "@context":"http:\/\/schema.org","@type":"Article","dateCreated":"2020-09-22T09:36:24-05:00","datePublished":"2020-09-22T09:36:24-05:00","dateModified":"2020-10-02T13:23:09-05:00","headline":"How To Configure Windows Dynamic Lock With Your iPhone","keywords":[],"url":"https:\/\/appuals.com\/how-to-configure-windows-dynamic-lock-with-your-iphone\/","description":"Windows Dynamic Lock is a neat feature in the Windows 10 Creators Update that smartly protects your data by recognizing when you are near your computer and when you are away. The way this works is tha","articleSection":"Microsoft Windows","articleBody":"Windows Dynamic Lock is a neat feature in the Windows 10 Creators Update that smartly protects your data by recognizing when you are near your computer and when you are away. The way this works is that it pairs itself with your mobile phone and recognizes the distance at which you are located through a running Bluetooth connection. If your mobile phone goes beyond a distance of 6 feet from the computer, the functional algorithm automatically locks your PC to protect the privacy of your system and data.\r\n\r\nIf you are out in public and happen to walk away from your computer to go somewhere else, forgetting to lock it, this feature will safeguard your system until you are back to unlock it directly yourself. Let\u2019s suppose you are sitting and working at a Starbucks and you decide to get up and fetch your order, your PC will automatically lock behind you if you take your mobile phone with you. Once you get back, you can unlock your PC and resume working. This feature relies on your mobile phone being with you when you get up and leave. As the chances of this are quite high as most people commonly instinctively take their mobile phones with them or keep them in their pockets, Microsoft chose to use this metric to dictate a person\u2019s location for the dynamic lock.\r\n\r\nIn the past, configuring a smart Microsoft Windows feature with a phone other than a Windows one was not possible. Eventually, they introduced support for Android phones as well. Supporting an iPhone would have been the toughest bet, but Windows has now come around to supporting it too and the Microsoft Windows and Apple MacOS\/iOS divide has now been bridged in this functionality.\r\nStep 1: Check For The Windows Creators Update\r\nTo go about setting up the Windows Dynamic Lock feature, you will first need to ensure that you are running the Windows 10 Creators Update as the feature is only updated in that version. To go about doing this, you will need to hover over your start button at the bottom left of your screen and then right-click on it. A context menu will show up. In this, menu if you are able to spot a \u201cSettings\u201d option, this means that you have got the Creators Update installed. It is an unusually peculiar way of checking, but it gets the job done.\r\nStep 2: Pair Your Mobile Phone With Your Windows PC\r\n\r\n\r\nOnce you\u2019ve confirmed that the Creators Update is running on your Windows PC, you will need to pair your mobile phone with your device over a Bluetooth connection. To do this, you will first need to turn Bluetooth on both of your devices: your mobile phone as well as your Windows PC. On your Windows PC, you will need to head into Settings > Bluetooth & other devices and toggle the Bluetooth. Similarly, you will need to head into your Bluetooth settings on your iPhone and toggle it from there. On your iPhone, also head into the \u201cPersonal Hotspot\u201d setting and toggle that on as well. This is needed for the PC to detect your iPhone as a pairable smartphone device.\r\n\r\nTo pair the two devices, head into the Bluetooth & other devices settings on your Windows PC. Click on the plus icon at the top beside \u201cAdd Bluetooth or other device.\u201d A Bluetooth configuration window ill pop up. Click on the first option at the top of the pop up that reads \u201cBluetooth\u201d and specifies \u201cmice, keyboards, pens, or other kinds of Bluetooth devices.\u201d\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nEnsuring that your iPhone is in range and detectable via Bluetooth, find it in the list of devices that pops up and click to pair. If your iPhone does not appear, toggle its Bluetooth off and back on again. A pairing PIN will appear on both devices. Ensure that this PIN matches. Once you\u2019ve cross-checked, click on the \u201cPair\u201d button on your iPhone and the \u201cConnect\u201d button on your Windows PC. The two devices will then communicate and complete the pairing process. Once you close the new device pairing dialogue box, in the main \u201cBluetooth & other devices\u201d settings page, you should be able to see your iPhone showing up as one of the pairing configured devices towards the bottom of the page. A phone icon should appear beside it to show that your PC has recognized it as a cellphone device (which is how you will need it to be recognized for the purpose of the dynamic lock feature).\r\nStep 3: Enable The Windows Dynamic Lock Feature\r\n\r\n\r\nOnce you have paired your phone and your PC, you are then ready to configure the Windows Dynamic Lock feature. To do this, head into your PC\u2019s settings and into the Sign-in options. Underneath Pin and Picture Password, you should notice a Dynamic lock section. There will be a checkbox next to the statement \u201cAllow Windows to detect when you\u2019re away and automatically lock the device.\u201d Check this box and close the settings panel.\r\n\r\nTo test whether the connection has been configured properly, while your laptop is switched on and unlocked, stand up and walk away from your PC while keeping your mobile phone on your person (perhaps, leave the room). Walk back and check to see if the computer has been locked. The lock is almost instant once you cross the 6-foot mark and should automatically lock your PC when you\u2019re away. If the lock did not occur, try walking a greater distance away or revisit your settings to ensure that your mobile phone is paired correctly and that the checkbox under Dynamic lock is checked too.\r\nFinal Thoughts\r\nThe Windows Dynamic Lock is a very cool and useful feature to have enabled so that you never have to worry about your data being exposed when you suddenly or carelessly get up and walk away from your computer. It keeps track of your distance from your screen using the Bluetooth connection on your mobile phone, locking your screen after you cross a distance of 6 feet or leave the room (where there is a wall obstruction in between). Previously, Microsoft kept these features exclusive to its Windows phones but these features are now open to Android and iPhones as well, the latter of which was perhaps the most groundbreaking collaboration given the operating system integration rift maintained between the two by both companies.","publisher":"@id":"#Publisher","@type":"Organization","name":"Appuals.com","logo":"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/appuals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/apuals_new_logo_B-1.png","publishingPrinciples":"https:\/\/appuals.com\/about\/#go-to-editorial-guidelines","sameAs":["https:\/\/facebook.com\/appuals","https:\/\/twitter.com\/appuals","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/appuals\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCR--2QnA0vYBfqsmSI3pQ9g","https:\/\/www.crunchbase.com\/organization\/appuals"],"author":"@type":"Person","name":"Alyssa Arford","url":"https:\/\/appuals.com\/author\/alyssaarford\/","description":"Alyssa Arford is an aspiring Electrical & Electronics Engineer with a vested interest in the innovation and design of computer hardware. Her passion for understanding the nitty gritty of how hardware components come together and playing around with the potential of silicon devices puts her in a position to confidently discuss emerging technologies and their implications in advanced computing.","jobTitle":"","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/alyssa-arford-4681b0215\/"],"knowsAbout":[""],"alumniOf":"@type":"Organization","Name":"","mainEntityOfPage":"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/appuals.com\/how-to-configure-windows-dynamic-lock-with-your-iphone\/","breadcrumb":"@id":"#Breadcrumb","image":"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/cdn.appuals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Appuals-Alyssa-Arford-7.jpg","width":1200,"height":812 Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Reddit Share via Email Print ABOUT THE AUTHOR Alyssa ArfordElectronics Engineer Email LinkedIn Alyssa Arford is an aspiring Electrical & Electronics Engineer with a vested interest in the innovation and design of computer hardware. Her passion for understanding the nitty gritty of how hardware components come together and playing around with the potential of silicon devices puts her in a position to confidently discuss emerging technologies and their implications in advanced computing. Load Comments Microsoft WindowsWindows High CPU Usage
Windows Updates
Windows EXE File Errors
Windows Virtualization
Windows General
Windows Troubleshooting
Windows Networking
Windows Display
Windows Setup
Windows Privacy
Windows Audio
Windows Blue Screen
Windows File Information
Virus & Malware Removal
Windows DLL
Programs and Apps
Windows Tips
Windows Security
File Conversion
Appuals Unit 21234, PO Box 7169, Dear Hay Ln, Poole, BH15 9EL, UK editor@appuals.comAbout Privacy PolicyCookie Policy Terms & Conditions Editorial Guidelines Affiliate Disclosure Contact UsCopyright 2014-2022 All Rights ReservedFacebookTwitterLinkedInYouTube Back to top button Close Search for: FacebookTwitterLinkedInYouTube.wptp z-index: 108; width:380px; background:#f5f5f5; bottom: 20px; right: -380px; position:fixed; border-radius:5px; box-shadow: 0px 25px 10px -15px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05); transition: 0.5s; Expert Tip 2ff7e9595c
Comments