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I could lock my Windows XP workstation using CTRL+ALT+DEL, K. That keystroke combination does not work on Windows 7. Is there a method of locking Windows 7 using just keystrokes?

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4 Answers 4

Reset to default
127

Windows key+L should do what you need.

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    It's worth mentioning that this isn't a new shortcut to Windows 7... it has been around since at least the XP days. Check out the "Windows key" Wikipedia page for other useful shortucts that use this key: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_key
    – Jesse Webb
    Mar 19, 2013 at 22:43
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    My habit: try every Windows key + letter combination and see what they do whenever a new Windows version is released.
    – Alvin Wong
    Mar 20, 2013 at 6:03
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    @Alvin and not only letter: the win+arrowkey have nice features too.
    – Konerak
    Mar 20, 2013 at 7:01
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    Win+M (or Win+D), Win+L, and Win+R are the big three for me (Also Win-P, when I used to have a laptop)
    – BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft
    Mar 20, 2013 at 7:16
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    @AlvinWong , you can also check here or here for Win8 for a complete list, or in the Windows manual (printed or online). Should be easier than trying.
    – Jcl
    Mar 20, 2013 at 7:38
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Use Windows+L. If you use AutoHotKey you can reprogram Windows+L to do other things too, like lock your session, and also wait 10 seconds and put monitors to sleep. Powerful little hotkey program.

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Also, Ctrl+Alt+Del, Enter   and   Ctrl+Alt+Del, Alt+K seem to work for me.

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    Ctrl-Alt-Del Enter is the way. This has worked across various versions of Windows for a long time, since the default button on the Ctrl-Alt-Del screen is "Lock this computer".
    – Kaz
    Mar 20, 2013 at 1:35
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    Also Space instead of Enter works as well, since it's the default highlighted item.
    – Viper_Sb
    Mar 20, 2013 at 5:22
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    Wouldn't Ctrl+Alt+Del Alt+K depend on one's installed/selected language variant, though?
    – user
    Mar 20, 2013 at 12:03
  • @MichaelKjörling: (1) Good point. I hadn’t consciously considered that. You are probably right. (2) I’ll fall back on @Kaz and @Viper’s suggestions that (Enter) and (Space) are the universal answers. (3) Since the OP said that K worked for him on Windows XP, I believe that it’s quite likely that he is an English user.
    – Scott - Слава Україні
    Mar 21, 2013 at 0:42
  • @Kaz: and Windows+L hasn't worked for a long time across Windows versions? Don't remember about Windows 2000, but at least since XP this worked fine.
    – 0xC0000022L
    Mar 21, 2013 at 2:43
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You can even use a simple batch file. Just double click on it & your PC will get locked. Just copy & paste the below code in to Notepad & save it as (for example) "lock.bat". That's it - you're done, just double click on it.

The code is:

@echo off
rundll32.exe user32.dll, LockWorkStation
cls
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    This is over-involved and doesn't answer the question.
    – Dane
    Mar 20, 2013 at 13:05
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    Also, you really shouldn't use rundll32 on things that weren't made for rundll32 (and those are deprecated since Vista) See also: blogs.msdn.com/b/oldnewthing/archive/2004/01/15/58973.aspx (Sadly down at the moment)
    – 3Doubloons
    Mar 20, 2013 at 13:41
  • @AlexBrault Working fine for me now.
    – user
    Mar 20, 2013 at 14:56
  • If you put this file on your Desktop and assign a Shortcut key (combination) to it, then that keystroke combination will lock the workstation. It must be Ctrl+Alt+(something) or Ctrl+Shift+Alt+(something). You might need to logout and login again before it becomes effective.
    – Scott - Слава Україні
    Mar 21, 2013 at 0:50
  • This code is great when you are trying to plug this into a macro key on your keyboard. Thanks Sunil.
    – Josh Simar
    Apr 19, 2016 at 17:29

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