How to Enable Automatic Device Locking Feature in Windows 11

Pairing Your Mobile Device via Bluetooth

Windows uses the active Bluetooth connection between the PC and the phone to estimate how far apart they are. If the pairing is removed or Bluetooth is turned off on either device, Dynamic Lock stops working. Before you start, open the Bluetooth settings on your phone and leave that screen open so the phone is discoverable.

1. Press Win+I to open Settings. The Settings⚙️ window opens on the System page.

   

2. Click Bluetooth🔷 & devices in the left-hand menu. The page lists your connected devices.

   

3. Check that the main Bluetooth🔷 toggle at the top of the page is set to On. If it is off, switch it on. If the toggle is missing altogether, the PC has no working Bluetooth🔷 adapter (see the last section).
4. Click the Add device button near the top. The Add a device window opens.
5. Select Bluetooth🔷 from the list in the Add a device window.

   

   Windows starts scanning for nearby devices.
6. Choose your smartphone from the list of discovered devices. If it does not appear, check that Bluetooth🔷 is on and the phone’s Bluetooth screen is open, then wait a few seconds.
7. Compare the PIN shown on your PC with the one on your phone. They must match. Click Connect on the PC, then accept the pairing prompt on the phone.
8. Click Done once the notification confirms both devices are connected. Your phone should now appear under Devices on the Bluetooth🔷 & devices page.

Enabling Dynamic Lock in 🪟 Windows 11 Settings

With the phone paired, you can turn on Dynamic Lock. The option sits under Accounts, on the Sign-in options page.

1. Press Win+I to open Settings.
2. Click Accounts in the left-hand navigation pane. The main accounts page opens.

   

3. Select Sign-in options from the choices on the main accounts page.

   

4. Scroll down until you reach the Additional settings section.
5. Click the Dynamic lock heading to expand it. A checkbox appears below it.

   

6. Tick the box for Allow Windows to automatically lock your device when you’re away.

If the checkbox is greyed out or the option is missing, the PC usually has no paired phone or Bluetooth is off. Go back to the pairing steps and check. A policy set by an administrator can also lock the option on managed PCs.

Windows now watches the link to your paired phone. To test it, walk away from the PC with the phone in your pocket. After the signal drops, the screen should lock. This usually takes a minute or so, and the exact distance depends on walls and interference.

The lock is one-way. Windows does not unlock the PC when you come back, so you still sign in with your PIN, password or Windows Hello. To undo the change, clear the checkbox.

Some devices have a presence sensor, which detects whether a person is sitting in front of the screen. On these devices, open Settings › Privacy & security › Presence sensing. There you can turn on Lock when I leave and Wake when I approach. This locks the PC without needing a phone or Bluetooth.

The Presence sensing page appears only on hardware with a compatible sensor, so most desktops and older laptops will not show it. To undo it, return to the same page and switch the options off.

Alternative Auto-Lock Methods Using Screen Savers

A screen saver with a logon requirement is a different approach. It locks the PC after a set period of keyboard and mouse inactivity and does not track your phone. This works well if your phone does not hold a reliable Bluetooth connection or you would rather not use wireless tracking. It also works as a backup alongside Dynamic Lock.

1. Open the Start menu⊞ search, type screen saver, and press Enter. The classic Screen Saver Settings window opens.
2. Open the Screen saver drop-down and pick an option such as Blank. If you leave it on (None), the logon checkbox and the wait timer are usually greyed out and cannot be changed.
3. Tick On resume, display logon screen.
4. Use the up and down arrows in the Wait box to set the idle time in minutes. Choose a short time, such as 5 minutes, if the PC is in a shared space.
5. Click Apply, then click OK to save the settings⚙️.

No restart is needed. To undo this, reopen the window, clear the checkbox or set the screen saver back to (None), and click Apply.

Two newer settings can replace the screen saver. Both are in the modern Settings app, and together they make the PC ask for a sign-in after a period of inactivity.

1. Open Settings › System › Power & battery and expand the screen and sleep timeouts. Set how long the PC waits before it turns off the screen or goes to sleep, on battery and when plugged in.
2. Open Settings › Accounts › Sign-in options. Find the option If you’ve been away, when should Windows require you to sign in again.
3. Choose When PC wakes up from sleep so Windows asks for your sign-in when you return. Choosing Never removes that prompt, so avoid it on a shared PC.

The sign-in option controls what happens after the screen turns off or the PC sleeps, not while you are actively using it. Some builds word the options slightly differently, and managed PCs may grey them out. To undo these changes, set the timeouts and the sign-in option back to their earlier values.

Configuring Dynamic Lock via Group Policy

Group Policy lets an administrator enforce automatic locking on a PC without clicking through Settings by hand. You need administrator rights. The Local Group Policy Editor is only included in Pro, Enterprise and Education editions, so it will not open on Windows 11 Home.

1. Press Win+R to open the Run dialog.
2. Type gpedit.msc and press Enter. The Local Group Policy Editor opens. If you see a “cannot find” error, you are probably on Home edition.
3. In the left tree, go to Computer Configuration › Administrative Templates › Windows Components › Windows Hello for Business.
4. Find the policy that controls automatic locking when the user is not present, and double-click it. The exact policy name can differ between Windows builds, so read the description in the policy window to confirm it is the right one.
5. Select the Enabled radio button.
6. Click Apply, then click OK to apply the policy to the local machine.

The policy usually takes effect at the next policy refresh. Signing out and back in, or restarting, makes sure it is applied. To undo it, open the same policy and select Not Configured.

If this didn’t work

If Dynamic Lock still does not work after you check your Bluetooth settings and try the inactivity timer, the Bluetooth adapter may be too old to report signal strength reliably. Its driver may also be out of date. Work through these steps in order.

1. Right-click the Start button⊞ and choose Device Manager.
2. Expand Bluetooth🔷, right-click the adapter, and choose Update driver.
3. If the new driver does not help, plug in a modern USB Bluetooth🔷 dongle.
4. Check that the phone is still listed as paired and connected in Settings › Bluetooth🔷 & devices. Removing the pairing on either side stops Dynamic Lock.

If the adapter cannot be fixed, the screen saver, the timeout settings and Win+L all lock the PC without Bluetooth.