Locked use lets Codex keep operating desktop apps through Computer Use after your Mac's screen locks. It is a lock screen feature, not a keep-awake feature. Closing a MacBook's lid puts the Mac to sleep, and Locked use does nothing about that. If the lid stays open and the Mac is on power, the built-in settings are enough and cost nothing. For a closed lid, OpenAI's documented answer is an external display.
The two get mixed up because they often arrive together: you step away, the screen locks, and a little later you fold the laptop shut. Locked use was built for the first event. Below: what OpenAI documents, how to turn it on, what to do about a closed lid, and what is known about the "Unable to update Locked use" error. Sources were checked on October 11, 2026.
What Locked use is
OpenAI describes it in the Computer Use docs: "Locked use lets ChatGPT use Computer Use after your Mac locks, but only after you enable it. Use it when a ChatGPT task needs to use desktop apps from a connected device after the Mac locks." The docs now call the app the ChatGPT desktop app; it is the same app many people still call the Codex app, and the setting sits in its Computer Use settings.
Computer Use is the part of Codex that sees and operates graphical apps: clicking through a Mac app, a browser or the iOS Simulator instead of running shell commands. A locked screen normally blocks all of that.
It works by adding a component to macOS. In OpenAI's words, when you enable it the app "installs an Apple authorization plug-in that participates in the macOS unlock flow." OpenAI also sets expectations about scope: "Locked use is intentionally narrow. It's not a general-purpose remote-unlock path for your Mac, and it doesn't let other apps or local processes unlock the computer."
How to turn on Locked use
OpenAI lists three steps. The first two are one-time setup.
- Open Settings > Computer Use in the app. Computer Use has to be set up first: the Computer Use plugin installed, and the macOS Screen Recording and Accessibility permissions granted.
- Enable locked use. This is the moment the authorization plug-in is installed.
- Start a task that uses Computer Use from a connected device after your Mac's screen has locked. A connected device is, for most people, the ChatGPT app on a phone paired through remote connections.
The requirements that follow from OpenAI's pages:
- A Mac. "Locked use is for macOS. On Windows, Computer Use works in the foreground."
- A supported region. The docs open with "In supported regions" and do not list them on that page.
- A host that is awake, online and signed in. That is the remote connections requirement, and it is the one a closed lid breaks.
- Apps you have approved. Computer Use only acts in apps you allow, and Locked use does not widen that.
What happens when a task arrives at a locked Mac
OpenAI's description: when a task reaches for an app after the Mac locks, the app "temporarily unlocks the Mac while blocking local use and preserving the locked screen protections." Before unlocking, it "checks whether the unlock attempt is for an active, trusted Computer Use turn. Outside that short-lived window, ChatGPT denies the unlock and asks you to unlock manually if needed."
The docs list four safeguards:
- The authorization window is short-lived and scoped to the current unlock attempt.
- Automatic unlock is available only to the app during active Computer Use turns.
- The app covers every display while the desktop is temporarily unlocked.
- If it detects local keyboard or pointer input, it relocks the Mac and pauses automatic unlock until you unlock it manually.
Computer Use keeps its ordinary limits while locked. OpenAI says it cannot automate terminal apps or the ChatGPT app itself, cannot authenticate as an administrator, and cannot approve security and privacy permission prompts. If a task stops at one of those, Locked use will not carry it through.
Why a closed lid is a different problem
Three states look alike from across the room and behave very differently.
| State of the Mac | Mac running | Computer Use from your phone | What decides it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lid open, unlocked | Yes | Works | Nothing extra, as long as idle sleep is held off |
| Lid open, screen locked | Yes | With Locked use on | The Locked use setting |
| Lid closed, nothing attached | No, asleep | Stops | Lid-close sleep. Locked use is not involved |
| Lid closed, external display and power | Yes | OpenAI's documented setup | Apple's closed-display mode |
OpenAI's Locked use section does not mention the lid at all. The statement that settles it is on the remote connections page, which governs every task sent from a connected device: "On a Mac laptop, remote access can stay available with the lid open and power connected. With the lid closed, connect an external display as well. Choosing Sleep still stops remote access." The same page says that if the computer sleeps, "remote access stops until it's available again."
Macworld made the link to Locked use explicit when the feature shipped. In its May 22, 2026 report, Roman Loyola wrote: "It also won't work when you shut your MacBook's display, which triggers a different sleep mode." That is a secondary source that agrees with OpenAI's wording.
Locked use takes part in the unlock step, and a sleeping Mac never gets that far, because the app that would ask for it is not running. Sleep is handled by a different control, the keep-awake option under Settings > Connections, and it has its own closed-lid gap, covered in Codex Keep this Mac awake not working.
What to do if the lid has to close
Start with the options that cost nothing and that OpenAI documents.
Leave the lid open, on power
Free, and exactly what OpenAI describes. Turn on the keep-awake option under Settings > Connections and Locked use, lock the screen, and dim the display. Nobody can use the Mac, and Codex can.
Lid closed with an external display
OpenAI's documented closed-lid setup. Apple says a closed Mac laptop driving a display must be connected to power and using an external keyboard and mouse.
The task does not need a screen
Then you do not need Computer Use or Locked use. Then sleep is the only thing to solve. See keep Codex running with the lid closed.
Lid closed, no display, screen needed
The hard case. Something has to keep the Mac awake and leave a screen for Codex to act on. Read the next section before you rely on any tool for it, Clamshell included.
Where Clamshell fits, and where it is unproven
Clamshell for Mac is a menu bar app that keeps an Apple Silicon MacBook awake with the lid closed and no external display, without sudo. That removes the sleep half of the problem. Screen-driving agents are the other half, and here is what Clamshell's own documentation says: during an armed lid-closed session, agents can use the screen while the built-in display stays black, so computer use and the iOS Simulator keep working. That is a setting, Let agents use the screen while the lid is closed, on by default. On some Macs an armed closed-lid session could end with macOS logging the user out; if that happens, Clamshell turns the display off with the lid closed from then on and tells you, and screen work stops having a screen.
What nobody documents is the combination with Locked use. If your Mac locks itself while the lid is closed, Codex would need its Locked use unlock step to succeed in that state. OpenAI does not describe that case, Clamshell does not claim it, and I did not test it for this page. Treat it as unverified and run the two-minute check below on your own Mac before you depend on it. If it fails, an external display is the setup OpenAI documents.
- Get it working with the lid open first. Lock the screen, send a small Computer Use task from your phone, and confirm Codex completes it.
- Unplug external displays and arm Clamshell. It pauses instead of arming while a display is connected. Confirm the menu shows armed.
- Close the lid for two minutes and send the same task again. A reply that shows the app was actually operated is a pass. An error asking you to unlock manually is a fail, and tells you the unlock did not happen.
Can AI agents use the screen with the lid closed? compares the other ways to give an agent a screen, including HDMI dummy plugs and virtual displays.
Clamshell for Mac keeps a MacBook awake with the lid closed while armed, with no monitor and no sudo. It does not replace Locked use, and the pairing is untested. The 7-day trial is free, so you can run the check above first.
Download free trialApple Silicon, macOS 14+. Notarized by Apple. 3.6 MB. $9.99 once after the trial. Or buy now, $9.99. Reading this on your phone? Send the Mac download link to yourself.
"Unable to update Locked use": what is known
OpenAI's docs do not mention this error or explain it. What exists is a set of user reports on the openai/codex GitHub repository. All three below were open on October 11, 2026, and none of the threads had a reply from OpenAI when I read them, so every cause suggested in them is a user's guess.
- After an app update, on Apple Silicon. Issue #28604, filed June 16, 2026, says an update turned Locked use off and that turning it back on fails with "Unable to update Locked use".
- With "Plugin update failed". Issue #29216, filed June 20, 2026 on an M1 Max, shows both messages. The reporter had already reinstalled the app, reset the Accessibility and Screen Recording permissions and restarted the Mac, without success.
- On an Intel Mac. Issue #39648, filed August 20, 2026, reports the toggle switching itself back off, with the app's log saying it failed to start its managed Computer Use service. Several other open issues describe Computer Use components missing from the Intel build.
With no documented cause, the useful steps rule out a documented requirement:
- Confirm Computer Use itself works with the Mac unlocked. If it does not, Locked use cannot be enabled on top of it.
- Check System Settings > Privacy & Security for Screen Recording and Accessibility, as OpenAI's troubleshooting note suggests.
- Update the app, then quit and reopen it, and try the toggle again.
- If it still fails, add your app version, macOS version and Mac model to the matching issue. That is the only route to a fix at the moment.
Read the open reports before enabling Locked use on a Mac you depend on. It changes the macOS unlock flow, and users have filed issues about failed automatic unlocks and login keychain trouble, for example #35553. These are unconfirmed user reports, not statements from OpenAI.
One report is relevant to the lid in particular. Issue #49808, filed October 1, 2026, describes a Mac on power with the lid closed and two external monitors where automatic unlock worked twice in an hour and then failed after the display dimmed and locked. Even the documented closed-lid setup has an open bug report, so test yours before an unattended run.
Frequently asked questions
What is Locked use in Codex?
It is a macOS setting for Computer Use in OpenAI's desktop app. OpenAI's docs say it lets Computer Use keep working after your Mac locks, but only after you enable it. When a task from a connected device needs a desktop app, the Mac is unlocked temporarily while local use is blocked and every display is covered.
How do I turn on Locked use in Codex?
OpenAI's docs give three steps: open Settings, then Computer Use in the app, enable locked use, then start a task that uses Computer Use from a connected device after your Mac's screen has locked. Enabling it installs an Apple authorization plug-in. Computer Use itself must already be set up with Screen Recording and Accessibility permissions.
Does Codex Locked use work with the MacBook lid closed?
Not on its own. Locked use handles a locked screen on a Mac that is awake. Closing the lid puts the Mac to sleep, and a sleeping Mac runs nothing. OpenAI's remote connections docs say that with the lid closed you should connect an external display as well, and Macworld reported that Locked use will not work when you shut the display.
Why does Codex say Unable to update Locked use?
OpenAI does not document a cause. As of October 11, 2026 there are open reports on the openai/codex GitHub repository describing the error after an app update on Apple Silicon and on Intel Macs, where a log shows the Computer Use service failing to start. None of the threads I read has a reply or fix from OpenAI.
Is Locked use the same as keeping the Mac awake?
No. Locked use is about the lock screen. Staying awake is a separate job, handled by the app's keep-awake setting on power with the lid open, by an external display with the lid closed, or by a lid-closed tool. You may need both: one so the Mac keeps running, one so Codex can get past the lock.
Does Clamshell make Locked use work with the lid closed?
Clamshell covers the sleep half: while armed it keeps the Mac awake with the lid closed and agents can use the screen while the built-in display stays black. Whether Codex's Locked use unlock step works in that state is not documented by OpenAI or by Clamshell and was not tested for this guide. OpenAI's documented closed-lid setup is an external display.
Related guides
- Dummy display plug vs an app
- Does Claude Code keep running when you lock your Mac?
- Keep Codex running when you close your MacBook lid
- Codex Keep this Mac awake not working with the lid closed
- Can AI agents use the screen with the MacBook lid closed?
- Use Codex from your phone with the MacBook lid closed
- How to keep a MacBook awake with the lid closed
- Clamshell mode without an external display
Sources checked October 11, 2026: OpenAI's Computer Use and remote connections docs, Macworld's May 22, 2026 article, openai/codex issues #28604, #29216, #39648, #49808 and #35553, and Apple's guidance on using a Mac laptop with its lid closed. Clamshell behavior is described from its published product notes. Clamshell with Codex Locked use was not tested for this page. Locked use is changing quickly, so check OpenAI's current docs before relying on a detail. Clamshell is an independent app, not affiliated with or endorsed by OpenAI. Codex and ChatGPT are trademarks of OpenAI.