Unlocking a Mac with the Apple Watch may seem like a simple thing, but it's one of the countless tricks the device has up its sleeve designed to make your life simpler. And whenever there's a way. With the Apple Watch and macOS Sierra, you can unlock your computer without having to type in your password. Simply hold your watch close to the login screen and you'll be logged in automatically. In order to enable this feature, you'll need to have Two-Factor Authentication enabled for your account, which helps keep your account more secure. With macOS Sierra installed on a Mac from at least 2013 and an Apple Watch (the very first one), users should be able to unlock their Mac with their Apple Watch. I have an Early 2013 MacBook Pro and an Apple Watch, both of which have the most updated version of the OS installed. Make sure your Mac and Apple Watch both have a passcode. You may not have thought it necessary to use a passcode with your Apple Watch when you first set it up, but if you want to use Auto Unlock, you'll need one.
After upgrading to macOS Sierra, users will be able to unlock their Mac using their Apple Watch. The new shiny feature is called Auto Lock. This feature was originally announced during the WWDC keynote. Some people were able to give Auto Lock a test drive using their Apple Watch on watchOS 3 beta 2 and Macbook on macOS Sierra (beta).
The first thing that I noticed was the setting up process. If you’re not familiar with activating Auto Lock on your Mac, you will have a hard time unlocking the computer using your Apple Watch.
Even though Apple has made the process relatively easy, some users still have trouble getting Auto Lock to work on their Mac and Apple Watch. In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to troubleshoot that problem.
The first thing we’re going to do is turn on Auto Lock on your Apple Watch. Be sure to follow the instructions below.
How to enable Auto Unlock on Apple Watch
- Make sure your Apple Watch is running watchOS 3 or higher. You can also find available firmware update by going to the Watch app (on your iPhone) > General > Software Update.
- Turn on Passcode for your watch. It’s in the Settings app under the Passcode page.
- On your Mac, go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General, and look for Allow your Apple Watch to unlock your Mac.
- Click on the checkbox right next to it. If prompted, enter your Mac’s password.
To see if Auto Lock is working or not, close your Mac or log out and lift the screen back up.
If you see a message that says, “Unlocking with Apple Watch” and the lock screen turns into a regular Mac screen, then everything is working as expected.
If Auto Lock is Not Working on your Mac
In case Auto Lock doesn’t work on your Apple Watch or macOS computer, here are a few things you need to know to fix that problem.
- Apple Watch needs to run watchOS 3 beta 2 or higher
- Your Mac needs to have macOS Sierra Developer Preview Seed 2 or later
- Enable Two-Factor Authentication or 2FC for your Apple ID (see this)
- Auto Unlock will not work if the Apple Watch is not on your wrist
- If your Mac is awake but on the lock screen, click Cancel to activate Auto Unlock
As long as you satisfy the software requirements and features, then Auto Lock should start working again or for the first time.
If you see the error message that says, “Your Mac was unable to communicate with your Apple Watch,” it means either your Keychain is off (you will need to turn it on), or you should disable and re-enable Handoff from Settings > General.
Is My Mac Compatible with Auto Lock?
We forgot to mention that not all Macs will contain the Auto Lock feature.
To check if your Mac supports Auto Lock on the Apple Watch, do the following:
- Click on the Apple logo in the top left-hand corner of the screen
- Choose About This Mac
- Under the Overview page, click System Report…
- From the sidebar, select Wi-Fi option and look for Auto Unlock
- If your Mac does support this functionality, it should say “Supported” as shown below.
Be sure to let us know what you think and if this article has helped you fix problems with Auto Unlock.
Unlocking your Mac with an Android Phone
A lot of people sent me this:
I love Auto Lock, but I don’t have an iPhone or Apple Watch to unlock the device securely.
Well, here is an interesting application I recently discovered on Product Hunt.
DroidID is an Android application that allows you to unlock your Mac computer “with your device’s fingerprint sensor.”
Why is this important?
It depends on the person, really. If you own a Macbook or iMac you obviously also own an iPhone or Apple Watch.
This is nothing new!
I also happen to know a few people who owns a Mac yet an Android phone at the same time. One thing they complain a lot about was the ability to unlock their Mac with their Android device. I hope they can shut up now.
Powerful free open source software. DroidID unlocks your Mac when:
- Your Mac is sleeping
- Screensaver is running
- Resume the power via a click or mouse movement
By default, the app will not unlock your Mac on the first boot-up. If you want to change that, just add DroidID to one of the Login items (Go to System Preferences > Users & Groups)
How to Use DroidID on Android and Mac
Unlike the Auto Lock feature, DroidID isn’t a built-in feature. This means you will have to connect both apps from your Mac and Android phone.
- Click here to download the Mac client app
- On your Android phone, click here or go to the Play Store and install DroidID
- Go through the on-screen setup process
A few more things to keep in mind:
- For Android: the device has to be running Marshmallow (or above) / Lollipop (or above)
- For Mac: running El Capitan or above
So far, I think DroidID is the easiest and safest way to unlock your Mac using your Android phone’s fingerprint sensor.
You can skip the process of entering your password each time, especially if it’s long and complicated.
P.S: Support for Windows is coming soon.
Auto Unlock works when you're wearing your unlocked watch and are very close to your Mac. If necessary, move your watch a little closer.
How to automatically log in
This feature gives you instant access to your Mac when you're wearing your Apple Watch. Just wake up your Mac and you’re ready to go—without typing a password.
The first time you log in after you turn on, restart, or log out of your Mac, you must log in by entering your password manually. After that, Apple Watch logs in for you.
How to approve other password requests
You can also use your Apple Watch to approve other requests to enter your administrator password. This feature requires watchOS 6 and macOS Catalina. It works anywhere you need to type your Mac password, such as when viewing passwords in Safari preferences, unlocking a locked note, approving an app installation, or unlocking settings in System Preferences.
For example, when you click the lock to make a change in System Preferences, your Mac prompts you to approve with Apple Watch or Touch ID:
To automatically enter your password without having to type it, just double-click the side button on your Apple Watch:
How to set up Auto Unlock
- Make sure that your Mac and Apple Watch meet the system requirements for Auto Unlock.
- Make sure that your devices are set up as follows:
- Your Mac has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned on.
- Your Mac and Apple Watch are signed in to iCloud with the same Apple ID, and your Apple ID is using two-factor authentication.
- Your Apple Watch is using a passcode.
- Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Security & Privacy. Select ”Use your Apple Watch to unlock apps and your Mac” or ”Allow your Apple Watch to unlock your Mac.”
If you're not sure whether your Mac supports Auto Unlock, press and hold the Option key while choosing Apple menu > System Information. Select Wi-Fi in the sidebar, then look for ”Auto Unlock: Supported” on the right:
Learn more
Unlocking Mac With Apple Watch
If you're having difficulty getting Auto Unlock to work, try these solutions:
Apple Watch Unlock Mac Not Working
- In Security & Privacy preferences, deselect ”Use your Apple Watch to unlock apps and your Mac” or ”Allow your Apple Watch to unlock your Mac.” Then restart your Mac and turn this setting back on.
- Make sure that your Mac isn't using Internet sharing or screen sharing.
How To Enable Apple Watch Unlock Mac Os
Learn about more Continuity features for your Apple devices.