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Installation

There are two ways to run Don't Lock My PC: download a prebuilt app (no Python needed), or install the Python package from source.

Every tagged release ships standalone binaries built by GitHub Actions.

DontLockMyPC-windows.zip DontLockMyPC-macos.zip

  1. Download the archive for your platform.
  2. Unzip it.
  3. Launch DontLockMyPC.exe (Windows) or DontLockMyPC.app (macOS).

No Python installation is required — the interpreter is bundled.

First-launch security prompts

Because these binaries are unsigned, your OS may warn you the first time:

  • Windows — SmartScreen may show “Windows protected your PC.” Choose More info → Run anyway.
  • macOS — Gatekeeper may say the app “cannot be opened.” Right-click the app → Open → Open, or allow it under System Settings → Privacy & Security.

Prefer to avoid this entirely? Install from source (Option 2) or build it yourself.

Option 2 — Install from source

Prerequisites

  • Python 3.9 or newer
  • Windows or macOS

  • Tkinter — bundled with the official Python installers. On macOS with Homebrew Python, install it separately:

    brew install python-tk

Install

git clone https://github.com/mahanteshimath/do-not-lock-my-system.git
cd do-not-lock-my-system

python -m venv .venv
.\.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1

pip install .

git clone https://github.com/mahanteshimath/do-not-lock-my-system.git
cd do-not-lock-my-system

python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate

pip install .

On macOS the install pulls in pyobjc-framework-Quartz automatically (via platform markers) so the mouse/F15 nudge works. caffeinate is built into macOS — nothing extra to install.

Run it

dontlockpc              # console entry point (after install)
python -m dontlockpc    # run the package

On Windows, launch it without a console window using pythonw:

.\.venv\Scripts\pythonw.exe -m dontlockpc

Editable install (for development)

If you plan to change the code, install in editable mode with the dev extras:

pip install -e ".[dev]"

That adds ruff, pytest, and pyinstaller. See Development for the full workflow.

Upgrading

Restart the app after upgrading

A running instance keeps the old code in memory. After git pull or installing a new version, close the app completely and relaunch it — otherwise you're still running the previous build. On Windows, check the system tray for a lingering instance.

git pull
pip install .        # or: pip install -e ".[dev]"

Uninstall

pip uninstall dontlockpc

If you enabled Start automatically at login, turn that checkbox off before uninstalling so the autostart entry is removed cleanly. If you already removed the app, delete the entry manually:

  • Windows — remove the DontLockMyPC value under HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
  • macOS — delete the LaunchAgent .plist from ~/Library/LaunchAgents/

Next: Usage