FAQ

It's a small Windows app that puts a password on the apps you choose, the way phones let you lock individual apps. When a protected app opens, PresenceLock asks you to unlock it first, with Windows Hello, a PIN, a trusted WiFi network, or your phone nearby. It can also lock your apps automatically when you step away, and it runs quietly in your system tray.

Your Windows password protects your whole account at sign-in. PresenceLock works per app, while you're already signed in. It's for the moment a partner, roommate, child, or colleague grabs your unlocked PC: your chat, mail, or banking app still won't open without you.

Whichever you switch on: Windows Hello (face / fingerprint), a PIN, a trusted WiFi network (open freely while you're on it), or your phone nearby over Bluetooth. Any one of the enabled methods unlocks. You choose them on first run and can change them anytime in Settings.

When you launch it. By default it asks once per launch, and the app then works normally until you close it. You can change this in Settings to stay unlocked for 10 minutes, an hour, until the PC sleeps, or until it restarts.

By design. Turning on protection never freezes an app you're already using. It takes effect the next time you launch that app. (If you walk away and presence locking is on, open apps will lock then.)

If you set your phone as a trusted device, PresenceLock notices when it leaves Bluetooth range, that's you walking away, and locks your protected apps automatically. When you come back, you unlock in a glance.

A way out if you can't or don't want to unlock. It closes the locked app cleanly (it will run the app's own "save your work?" prompt if it has one) without ever revealing the app's contents.

Yes. On any protected app, open Schedule and pick the days and the hours when it should be locked. Outside that window the app opens freely; inside it, it asks to be unlocked. Useful for locking games during school or work hours, or work apps after hours. A window that crosses midnight (say 22:00 to 06:00) works too. With no schedule set, an app is simply locked all the time.

Yes. Open Activity log from the tray menu. It lists when each protected app was unlocked (and with which method), and any failed attempts, with the time, so you can tell if someone tried to get into your chat or mail while you were away. The log lives only on your PC, and you can clear it anytime.

Yes. From the tray, choose Pause protection for 15 minutes or 1 hour (or until you resume it manually). While paused, protected apps open freely and stepping away won't lock them, handy when you're lending the PC for a moment. Protection turns itself back on automatically when the time is up.

A separate code for a single app. Give a friend the friend password for, say, one game or browser, and it opens only that app, your other protected apps stay locked and your master methods are never shared. Set one from the app picker, on the row of any protected app.

Everything stays on your computer. Your list of protected apps, schedules, preferences, and the activity log live in %LOCALAPPDATA%\PresenceLock. PINs (master and friend) are stored only as salted, one-way hashes, encrypted at rest with Windows DPAPI. There are no accounts, no servers, and no tracking, we never see your data. See the Privacy Policy.

No. Hello is handled entirely by Windows on your device; PresenceLock only receives a yes/no "verified" answer. Your biometric data never reaches PresenceLock and never leaves your PC.

It's a strong privacy and convenience lock, not full-disk encryption. It stops someone who grabs your unlocked PC from opening your apps. But a determined, technical person could bypass it (for example via Task Manager). For truly sensitive data, also use encryption such as BitLocker and a locked Windows account.

For your security the PIN is stored only as a one-way hash and cannot be recovered. If you also enabled Windows Hello you can keep using that. To reset everything, remove the files in %LOCALAPPDATA%\PresenceLock; this clears your methods and codes so you can set them up again. Your apps are never affected.

To protect your locks. If anyone could open Settings and switch protection off, or just quit PresenceLock, they'd get past your locked apps without ever knowing your code. So opening Settings, managing protected apps, and exiting the app all require one of your unlock methods.

It's recommended on during first-run setup so you're protected from the moment you sign in. You can also toggle Start with Windows anytime in Settings. (If you turned it off in Task Manager's Startup tab, re-enable it there, Windows reserves that switch for you.)

Yes. PresenceLock runs on Windows 10 and Windows 11 (64-bit).

PresenceLock is fully translated into English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, and Portuguese. It follows your Windows display language automatically, and you can switch the language anytime in Settings.

Right-click PresenceLock in the Start menu and choose Uninstall, or open Settings > Apps > Installed apps and remove it there. Uninstalling stops all locking; your other apps are untouched.

No. It sits in the tray using almost no CPU and a modest amount of memory. You won't notice it running.

The picker lists your installed desktop apps so you can switch on the ones you want, browsers, chat, mail, banking, games, and more. If an app isn't listed (a portable app, or one without a Start menu entry), use Add app manually at the bottom of the picker to choose its program file (.exe) yourself. Protection applies the next time each app launches.