How to lock keyboard and mouse input on Windows 10
External keyboards usually connect via a wire or a dongle. Disabling them is easy enough i.e., unplug whatever connects them to a computer or laptop. Some keyboards and mice have an off button of their own that allows you turn the device On/Off without having to disconnect anything. You’ll find that the button is exceptionally useful and not always present on all keyboards. It’s definitely not present on any internal keyboard and if you need a much easier way to lock keyboard and mouse input, or the touch pad, use Keyboard and Mouse Locker.
Lock keyboard and mouse input
Download and run Keyboard and Mouse Locker. The app is portable so there’s no installation required. By default, it will lock your keyboard and mouse after 5 seconds after you click the Lock button, regardless of keyboard or mouse activity. Once your keyboard and mouse are locked, you will have to enter a sequence of buttons to unlock them.
The app has a rather complicated unlock sequence already set up but you can change it. Click inside the ‘Custom unlock keys sequence’ field and tap the keys you’d like to use to unlock keyboard and mouse input. Do not use just one key as one key is always easy to press by accident. Use at least two.
When you try to use the keyboard or mouse with both devices locked, you will get a tooltip on the screen telling you which keys to press to unlock it. If you would like to hide the tooltip, uncheck the ‘Show Tool tip’ option on the app’s window. When the app is unlocked i.e., when both the mouse and keyboard are unlocked, the app automatically locks the desktop.
Keyboard and Mouse Locker is a great app for when you’re reading or watching a movie and you don’t want an accidental keypress or mouse movement to interrupt you. It’s also useful if you happen to have pets that like to walk across the keyboard while you’re reading or watching something.
Keyboard and Mouse Locker strongly discourages you against using a password as the unlock key sequence and highlights that nothing is encrypted on the app. It is by no means a tool for securing your system from any sort of attack. Once the keyboard and mouse on your system are unlocked, the app automatically quits itself.
This is the first version of Keyboard and Mouse Locker so it’s quite basic at the moment. Perhaps later versions will allow users to select which device to lock instead of locking all of them.
