The Windows ‘Dynamic Lock’ feature enables you to lock the computer as soon as you walk away with the help of the paired phone. The feature relies on Bluetooth technology to function.
Dynamic Lock helps prevent unauthorized access to your computer, which is essential if you work in a co-working space or use a shared computer. However, if it’s not working as expected for some reason, there are plenty of methods listed in this guide that you can try to fix the problem on your computer.
Understand how dynamic lock works
Chances are you already understand how the Dynamic Lock feature works. However, a quick refresher can’t hurt.
Dynamic Lock automatically locks your computer when the paired device is out of range and there is no input for at least 30 seconds. Note, both of these conditions must be met in order for Dynamic Lock to be implemented on your Windows computer.
Thus, if you are 100% sure that your PC does not automatically lock even if the device you paired with Bluetooth is out of range and there is no input for 30 seconds or more, Then you can go ahead with the corrections.
1. Make sure Dynamic Lock is on
First things first, if the feature has been turned off, it definitely won’t work on your PC.
Go to the Start Menu and click on the ‘Settings’ tile to proceed.
Then click on the ‘Accounts’ tab from the left sidebar.
Next, click on the ‘Sign-in options’ tile on the right side of the window to proceed.
After that, click on the ‘Dynamic lock’ tile and make sure the checkbox before ‘Allow Windows to automatically lock your device when you’re away’ option is checked.
Comment: Before turning on Dynamic Lock, make sure you have connected your phone to your computer via Bluetooth.
Once the feature is enabled, you can check whether your computer is now being locked via Dynamic Lock.
2. Update or Reinstall the Bluetooth Driver
Since functionality depends heavily on Bluetooth technology, a corrupt, damaged, or outdated driver can also cause problems with your device. You can either update it from Settings app, Device Manager or choose to install.
To update the driver using the Settings appGo to the Start menu and click on the ‘Settings’ tile.
Then click on the ‘Windows Update’ tab from the left sidebar.
Now, click on the ‘Advanced options’ tile from the right part to continue.
Next, click on the ‘Optional Update’ tile to proceed.
Afterward, click on the checkbox before the option that has ‘Bluetooth’ as a suffix or prefix, and then click on the ‘Download and Install’ button.
After installing the update, restart your PC and check if the problem is resolved.
To update the driver using Device Managergo to the start menu and type device Manager to do a search. Then, from the search results, click on the ‘Device Manager’ tile to proceed.
After that, double-click on the ‘Bluetooth’ option to expand the section. Next, right-click on the ‘Intel Wireless Bluetooth’ option and select the ‘Update Driver’ option. This will bring up a separate window on your screen.
After that, click on the option ‘Search automatically for drivers’ if you want Windows to search for the driver for you. Otherwise, click on the ‘Browse my computer for drivers’ option if you already have a package in your local storage.
force driver update, right-click on any one of the components and select the option ‘Uninstall device’. This will bring up the alert on your screen.
Now, click on the checkbox preceding the option ‘Attempt to remove the driver for this device’ and click on the ‘Uninstall’ button to start the process. After uninstallation, restart your device.
After restarting, go to the ‘Optional Updates’ section and download the update shown earlier in this section.
3. Repair Corrupted or Damaged System Files
The problem can also arise due to systemic issues such as damaged or corrupted system files. To fix them, you’ll need to run the DISM (Deployment Image Servicing and Management) process. Once this is done, you will need to run SFC (System File Checker) to check the integrity and errors of all system files.
First, go to the Start Menu and type Terminal to search. Then, from the search results, right-click on the ‘Terminal’ tile and select the option ‘Run as administrator’.
Now, a UAC (User Account Control) window will appear on your screen. If you are not logged in with an administrator account, enter the credentials for one. Otherwise, click on the ‘Yes’ button to proceed.
Then, on the Terminal window, type or copy+paste the code below and hit Enter on your keyboard to execute the command.
DISM /Online/Cleanup-Image/RestoreHealth
Once done, type or copy+paste the command below to invoke SFC (System File Checker) which will scan your currently installed Windows image and find the files you downloaded in the previous step Will fix damaged or corrupted files using .
SFC /scannow
Once the command is executed successfully, restart the PC and check if the problem is resolved.
4. Use Registry Editor
First, go to the Start menu and type Registry Editor. Then, click on the ‘Registry Editor’ tile to proceed.
After that, copy+paste the below path in the address bar and hit enter to navigate to the directory.
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
Next, double-click on the ‘EnableGoodbye’ DWORD file.
If the file does not exist, right-click on the right section and hover over the ‘New’ section. Then click on the DWORD file. Finally, rename the file to ‘EnableGoodbye’.
Once you’ve opened its properties by double-clicking on the file, overwrite the ‘Value’ field with 1 And click on ‘OK’ button.
Once done, restart your PC and check if the problem is resolved.
5. Use Group Policy Editor
Comment: Group Policy Editor is only available in Pro versions of Windows.
First go to the start menu and type group Policy to do a search. Then, click on the ‘Edit Group Policy’ tile to proceed.
Then double click on the ‘Administrative Templates’ folder from the left section. Then, from the expanded menu, double-click on ‘Windows Components’, and the menu will expand further.
After that, find and double-click on the ‘Windows Hello for Business’ option. Then, from the right part, double-click on the ‘Dynamic Lock Factors’ option. This will bring up an overlay window on your screen.
Next, click on the ‘Enable’ option and then click on the ‘Apply’ and ‘Ok’ buttons to save the changes.
Lastly, restart your PC to check if this has resolved the issue on your computer.
6. Go back to System Restore
If you have a system restore point created before you encountered this problem, you can simply roll back to the point to fix the problem. It is simple, easy and reliable.
Go to the Start menu and type control to search. Next, from the search results, click on the ‘Control Panel’ tile to proceed.
After that, locate the ‘Recovery’ tile from the grid of icons and click on it.
Next, click on the option ‘Open System Restore’ from the list. This will open a separate window on your screen.
Now, click on the ‘Next’ button to proceed further.
All the created system restore points will be listed on the screen. Click to select the desired one and then click on the ‘Next’ button to start the rolling back process.
After that, a list of drives affected by the rollback will be displayed. To also check for specific programs that are affected, click the ‘Scan for affected programs’ button. This will bring up a new window on your screen.
You will then be able to see the programs that will be removed when you return to the selected restore point. Click on the ‘close’ button to exit the window and proceed with the rollback.
Finally, click on the ‘Finish’ button to start the System Restore process.
That’s about it, folks. Using the above-mentioned methods, you can easily solve Dynamic Lock not working problem on your Windows 11 computer.
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