How to Play Sound when Locking Your Computer in Windows

Many users are unsure whether their computer has successfully locked, particularly when the screen locks automatically or when they initiate the lock in haste. Windows allows you to play a sound when locking your computer, providing audible confirmation that it’s locked. This can serve as a useful custom alert or security measure.

This guide offers a detailed process on how to enable or change sound when locking computer via Task Scheduler and custom script, along with alternative methods.

How to play a sound when locking your computer

Method 1: Using Task Scheduler

Using this method to enable computer-locked sound is easy and convenient, as Task Scheduler is a built-in Windows tool that doesn’t require any additional software. It also provides greater control over setting up actions triggered by system events.

Open the Task Scheduler

Press Win + R to open the Run Dialog.
Type taskschd.msc and hit Enter to open the Task Scheduler.

Create a new task

Click the Task Scheduler Library.
On the right pane, you will see the Actions section. Select Create Task.

In the General tab, type Play Sound on Lock in the Name field to name the task.
Click (dot) the Run whether user is logged on or not.
Tick the Run with highest privileges checkbox.
Select Windows 10 (or your version) in the Configure for drop-down options.

Configure the trigger

Go to the Triggers tab and press the New button.

Click the Begin the task drop-down and select On workstation lock > OK.

Set the Action to Play a Sound

Go to the Actions tab and click New.

Click the Action drop-down and select Start a program.

Input powershell.exe in the Program/script field.
In the Add arguments field, enter:

-c (New-Object Media.SoundPlayer ‘C:\Windows\Media\Windows Unlock.wav’).PlaySync();

If you want to play a sound of your choice, replace C:\Windows\Media\Windows Shutdown.wav with the path to your custom sound file.

Hit OK.

Finalize and enable the task

Go to the Conditions tab and uncheck the Start the task only if the computer is on AC power box.
Click OK to save the task.

Test the task

Press Win + L to lock your computer and check if the sound plays.

Method 2: Using a PowerShell Script with Task Scheduler

This method offers greater customization, as custom scripts lets you enhance functionality or add more tasks besides the computer making new lock sounds. It’s best suited for users who are comfortable with scripting and want to tailor the experience to their specific needs.

Prepare your .wav sound file

If you have a .wav sound file ready, ensure that it’s in a folder you won’t move or delete (e.g., C:\Scripts\locksound.wav).
If you don’t have a .wav sound file, you can either:
- Use built-in system sound in the C:\Windows\Media folder.
- Download .wav files from websites like pixabay.

Reminder: Note your sound file path.

Create a PowerShell script

Press Win + R to open the Run Dialog box.
Type notepad and hit Enter to open the Notepad.
Copy and paste the following code:

$SoundFile = “C:\Path\To\Your\Sound.wav”

Add-Type -TypeDefinition @”

using System.Media;

public class SoundPlayer {

public static void PlaySound(string path) {

SoundPlayer player = new SoundPlayer(path);

player.PlaySync();

}

“@

[SoundPlayer]::PlaySound($SoundFile)

Replace the “C:\Path\To\Your\Sound.wav” with the actual path to your .wav file.
Click File > Save As and save it as locksound.ps1.
Set Save as type to All Files.
Save it in a secure location (e.g., C:\Scripts)

Allow PowerShell Scripts to run

Press Win + S to open the Windows search bar.
Search for PowerShell. Once found, right-click on it and select Run as administrator.
Run the following command: Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned
Hit Enter.
If prompted, type Y to confirm and press Enter.

This will confirm to Windows that it’s okay to run scripts you create locally.

Test the Script

If you exited Windows PowerShell after the previous step, open PowerShell as administrator once again.
Run the following command to test if the script plays the sound:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File “C:\Scripts\PlaySoundOnLock.ps1”

Replace the “C:\Scripts\PlaySoundOnLock.ps1” with the actual path to your script.

Schedule it in Task Scheduler

Press Win + R to open the Run Dialog.
Type taskschd.msc and hit Enter to open the Task Scheduler.