Manage your screen's privacy

Your Chromebook may have a camera sensor that locks your screen when you’re away and keeps it awake when you are in front of it. To find out if your Chromebook has this feature, check your device’s operating instructions. If you aren’t sure, you can contact the manufacturer.

Important: To use your camera sensor for screen privacy, you must turn the feature on. The camera sensor doesn't save or send any data or images to Google.

Lock your screen when you leave

You can set your Chromebook to dim and then lock when not in use. When you turn on this setting, your screen dims after 10 seconds. Even if you don’t interact with your device, this setting also keeps your screen awake up to 15 minutes longer while you are in front of it.

1. At the bottom right, select the time Settings .
2. On the left, select Privacy and security Screen privacy.
3. Turn on Lock on Leave.
   • To change how long your Chromebook waits to lock after you leave, next to "Time to lock," move the slider to 30, 60, 120, or 180 seconds.

Get alerts when others look at your screen & hide your notifications

Important: This feature is only available on the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook.

When other people see your screen, the Privacy icon appears next to the time and you get an alert that says "Someone is looking at your screen." Your Chromebook can also hide your notifications when others are looking at your screen. You can see which app sent the notification but the content will be hidden.

1. At the bottom right, select the time Settings .
2. On the left, select Privacy and security Screen privacy.
3. Turn on Viewing protection.
4. To further protect your privacy, select Hide notification content when someone else is detected.