Working in an office environment might require you to lock the screen of your desktop while away from keyboard in order to prevent unauthorized access or simply to keep pranksters at bay. With the help of applications such as Desktop Locker you can leave all worries aside.

Running the application brings up a compact interface that manages to squeeze in all available features. An integrated password field requires you to input a custom security key in order to be able to activate your desktop again.

Take caution and remember it because you might end up with a locked screen until you force the computer to restart and risk losing unsaved data. Additionally, you are able to toggle an option that automatically unlocks your desktop after a given amount of time, but not one for the reverse, or when it detects no user activity.

Once you are done configuring settings, you can save the current configuration so they don't have to be set each time. However, there is no integrated feature that allows you to minimize it to system tray and make use of hotkeys to quickly lock the desktop.

Furthermore, you screen is only covered in a tint of either black or white, leaving everything visible. The mouse is locked in position though, so there is nothing to worry about. It is a shame that you cannot set a custom image or choose from a larger palette of colors.

Taking everything into consideration, we can say that Desktop Locker manages to provide a certain level of security. However, it lacks advanced features that could have made it a fully practical application. It's worth a try only if the computer user you work with is not fitted with a password.