⌘L
Press it on your way out
Every display is covered in a blink. The keyboard belongs to the lock now, so nothing you or anyone else types reaches your apps.
Shoji. Your screen, for your eyes only.
Shoji is a privacy screen for your Mac. Press ⌘L and paper-soft doors slide shut over everything on every display. Touch ID slides them open, with every window exactly where you left it.
Free for 24 hours · macOS 14 or later · Apple silicon and Intel
Everything is exactly where you left it.
How it works
One shortcut to close it. One touch to open it.
The macOS lock screen puts your Mac to sleep and shuffles your windows. Shoji just draws a screen over everything, so when you come back, it is all exactly where you left it.
Walk away
Your music keeps playing, your downloads keep going, your windows stay put. Stay away long enough and Shoji hands over to the full macOS lock too.
Touch to come back
Touch ID, or your Mac password. The screen slides open like a camera pulling focus, and you are exactly where you were.
障 子
Light gets through. Detail does not.
A shoji is the paper screen of a Japanese room. Slide it shut and the room stays bright, the world stays outside, and nobody walking past can see in. That is the whole idea: your Mac keeps working behind it, and nobody reads over your shoulder.
Five ways to draw the screen
Close the whole Mac, or just the part that matters.
Scroll, and each one plays on the Mac. Click its windows, press the buttons, hold ⌥.
Talk for Thursday
- Open with the churn number
- Pricing change: 20% up
- Do not mention the layoffs
- Q and A, 10 minutes
JordanBoard wants the plan by Monday.
AlexKeep this channel quiet for now.
Dinner at 8?
Yes. I have news about the job.
Tell me everything
LandlordRent increase from November
ClinicAppointment confirmed
Lock Mac
⌘L
Every display, every app, behind one screen. The keyboard belongs to the lock, so nothing you or anyone else types reaches your apps. Touch ID or your Mac password opens it.
Blur Screen
shortcut of your choice
Someone walked up behind you. One shortcut softens everything at once, no password needed, and esc brings it straight back.
Focus Blur
shortcut of your choice
Only the window you are using stays sharp. Everything behind it softens, and follows you as you switch. Made for cafés, planes and shared rooms.
Private Apps
shortcut of your choice
Messages, Slack and Mail stay blurred unless you are the one using them. Hold ⌥ over one to peek without switching.
App Lock
⌥⌘L
Lock just the app in front. Hand your Mac over for a demo, and your notes stay locked until Touch ID says otherwise.
Why not the macOS lock screen
Use both. Shoji is the fast one.
The macOS lock is the heavy door you close at night. Shoji is the one you slide shut twenty times a day, and after a while it closes the heavy one for you.
| Feature | Shoji | macOS lock screen |
|---|---|---|
| Windows and displays stay exactly as they were | Always | Displays sleep; windows can move when they wake |
| Hide just one app, or everything but your window | Yes | All or nothing |
| A quick blur with no password | Yes | No |
| See every wrong password tried while you were away | Yes | No |
| Touch ID | Yes | Yes |
| The full login screen after a long absence | Hands off to it | It is the login screen |
Built to hold
Force Quit it. It still locks.
A privacy screen is only as good as its worst moment. So Shoji has a small guard that runs beside it. If anything closes Shoji while your Mac is locked, even Force Quit, the guard turns on the macOS lock before your desktop can show.
Hands off to the macOS lock
Away longer than you meant? After the time you choose, Shoji also turns on the real macOS lock.
Every display, even new ones
Plug in a monitor while locked and it is covered the moment it wakes.
Wrong guesses slow down
Each wrong password waits a little longer, and you see every failed try when you come back.
⌘LShoji locks every display
⌥⌘escsomeone opens Force Quit
Force QuitShoji is closed
guardturns on the macOS lock
✓login window, nothing showed
youunlock once, and Shoji is back
Privacy
It blurs. It never looks.
The blur is drawn by macOS itself, the same way your menu bar is frosted. Shoji never captures your screen and never reads what is in your windows, so it needs none of the scary permissions.
Gate 2 networking only in License and Updates
✓ network confined to two modules
Gate 6 idle with only the shortcuts armed
✓ idle CPU 0.00% over 5 s
✓ network confined to two modules
Gate 6 idle with only the shortcuts armed
✓ idle CPU 0.00% over 5 s
- No permissions to grant. Not Screen Recording, not Accessibility, not Full Disk Access. Nothing in System Settings to switch on.
- Your password stays with macOS. Shoji hands it straight to macOS to check, and never stores, logs or sends it.
- Two addresses, ever. It goes online only to activate your license and to check for updates. The release build fails if networking shows up anywhere else.
- No account and no analytics. Nothing to sign up for, no usage stats, no crash pings.
- Nothing to leave behind. Settings, About, Uninstall removes Shoji and everything it kept, in one click.
The details
Small things, done carefully.
Touch ID or your password
The same Touch ID you already use. No Touch ID? Your Mac password works, checked by macOS.
Made for the notch
The lock is a small black island that hangs from the notch, as if the Mac itself were asking.
Locks when you step away
Blur after a minute, lock after five, or whatever you like. It waits while a video or a call keeps your display awake.
A hot corner
Rest the pointer in a corner of the screen to lock or blur, without touching the keyboard.
An away message
Leave a note on the lock, like "Back at 3:30", for whoever walks by your desk.
While you were away
Someone tried your password? You will know, with the time of every try, the moment you unlock.
Keyboard first
Every shortcut can be changed, and Shoji tells you when one clashes with an app you use.
Works with VoiceOver
The lock announces itself, every control is labelled, and Increase Contrast and Reduce Motion are honoured.
Raycast, Alfred, Shortcuts
Lock and blur from anywhere with shoji://lock links. Nothing a link opens can ever unlock.
Pricing
Fourteen dollars. Once.
Try every feature free for a full day. If Shoji earns its place, one payment keeps it for good, on up to three Macs.
$14one time
- 24 hours free, every feature, no card
- Three Macs on one license key
- Every future update, included
- Not a subscription, and it will not become one
- 30 days to change your mind, no questions
Secure checkout by Dodo Payments, our merchant of record. Your license key arrives by email the moment the payment clears.
Questions
Asked, and answered plainly.
Is it a real lock?
Yes. Shoji checks your Mac password through macOS itself, or Touch ID, and holds the keyboard while it is locked, so nothing you type reaches an app. After a time you choose, it also turns on the macOS lock.
If Shoji is ever force-quit while locked, its guard turns on the macOS lock screen, so your desktop never shows.
How is it different from the macOS lock screen?
The macOS lock screen is heavy: displays sleep, windows can shuffle, and it is all or nothing. Shoji is instant, leaves your displays and windows exactly as they were, and can hide just one app, or everything but the window you are using. When you want the full macOS lock too, Shoji hands off to it.
Does it record my screen?
No. The blur is drawn by macOS itself, the same way the menu bar is frosted. Shoji never captures the screen and never reads what is in your windows. That is why it needs no Screen Recording permission.
What permissions does it need?
None. It asks for no Screen Recording, no Accessibility and no Full Disk Access. macOS will tell you Shoji added a background item: that is its guard, and a login item if you let it open when you log in.
Does it go online?
Only to activate your license with Dodo Payments and to check this site for updates, once a day, which you can turn off. Update checks send nothing about you or your Mac. Nothing about your screen is ever sent anywhere.
How does the trial work?
Every feature works for 24 hours from the first launch, and the menu shows how much time is left. After that, locking and blurring switch off until you buy. Anything already locked still unlocks, so you are never shut out of your own apps.
Which Macs does it run on?
Any Mac with macOS 14 Sonoma or later, Apple silicon or Intel. Touch ID is used where your Mac has it; otherwise your password works just the same.
How do I install and remove it?
Download the installer and open it. It is signed and notarized by Apple, so it opens without warnings. To remove it, open Settings, About, and choose Uninstall: Shoji, its settings and its guard are gone, and your license seat is freed.
Can I get a refund?
Within 30 days of buying, yes, for any reason or none. Email hey@everydaymactools.com and it is done. Our refund policy gives every app at least seven days; Shoji gives you thirty.
Slide it shut. Walk away.
Free for 24 hours · macOS 14 or later