Automatic Login

By default, your Mac automatically logs in to the account you created when you first took your Mac out of the box. If you want to keep people from using your Mac when it's turned on or restarted, it's time to turn that option off.

1.	Launch System Preferences (choose Apple Menu > System Preferences).
2.	Click the Accounts icon.
3.	In the Accounts pane, click Login Options. If Login Options is dimmed, click the padlock icon in the lower left corner of the window and enter your administrator password in the dialog that opens.
4.	Uncheck the "Automatically log in as" box (Figure 10.1). Figure 10.1. Unchecking the "Automatically log in as" box in the Accounts preference pane causes your Mac to stop before displaying your Desktop. After the correct password is entered, it finishes booting up.

Now, any time your Mac is turned on or restarted, users are greeted with a login window. Without the correct password, that's as far as your Mac will boot.

Disabling automatic login is useful when you have more than one person that uses your workstation, or you want to keep unauthorized users off of your Mac.

Tip

For an added level of security, choose "Name and password" from the "Display login window as" options. When your Mac starts up, instead of seeing a list of every user on your Mac, a user sees a dialog that asks for the user name and password. Anyone trying to break into your Mac now has to guess two things: your user name and your password. If the Login window displays the list of users, he or she only has to guess your password.