How do I know if someone has accessed and used your computer?

Many users do not have the habit of setting passwords for their computers, especially when working in the office. However, this also causes some problems because strangers can illegally access your computer to steal information or use your computer for other purposes.

If you suspect someone has unauthorized access and use of your computer, you can apply some of the tips below to confirm and reassert it.

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Part 1: On a Windows computer

1. Check out recent activities (Recent Activity)

If someone accesses your Windows computer, they will probably use it and perform some operations, then you need to check if the recent activity on your computer has changed or not?

The first item you need to check is Recent Programs on the Start Menu. Click on Start Menu , and you will see a list of all recently opened programs and you can see if your computer has been accessed by unauthorized people.

Also when you hover over the Recent Items section on the right side of the Start Menu, you will also see a list of recently opened files.

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How to detect strangers to open a computer

However, the limitation of this solution is that if unauthorized users of your computer are smart enough, they can delete recent activities and delete recently opened files, so you can hardly do that. detect if your computer is accessed and used by someone?

2. Check the Windows Event Viewer

Windows will store a full version of successful logins as well as failed login. You can take advantage of this point to check if someone has accessed your computer?

To see successful or failed logins, you access the Windows Event Viewer.

To access Windows Event Viewer, first press the Windows + R key combination to open the Run command window, then enter eventvwr.msc there and then click Ente r or click OK to open the Event Viewer window.

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Monitor your computer when you're not around

Here you double-click the Windows Logs button, then click Security . In the middle of the list table you will see login times with login date and time. Each time you log in, Windows will record the log in the previous period of about 2 to 4 minutes.

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Also you can check specifically the account that was accessed on your computer earlier (in case if there are multiple accounts). To check, double-click on a specific login, the Event Properties window will appear on the screen. And you will see the account name next to Account Name .

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3. Display the last login details

The last solution you can think of is setting up detailed login information when the computer starts. This will display the account you used during the last login, whether successful or failed.

You will have to edit the Windows Registry, so before you proceed you should first create a backup.

Press the Windows + R key combination to open the Run command window, then enter regedit in the Run command window and then press Enter or click OK to open the Windows Registry.

On the Registry Editor window, navigate to the key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesSystem

Next right-click on the System folder select New => DWORD value to create a new DWORD and name this DWORD as DisplayLastLogonInfo .

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Double-click DisplayLastLogonInfo and set the value in the Value Data frame to 1 .

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From now on whenever you log in to your computer, you will see the details of your last login and any failed login.

4. Enable Logon Auditing

Note: Logon Auditing only works on the Professional version of Windows 7, 8 and Windows 10 and does NOT work on the Home version.

To enable Logon Auditing, first open Local Group Policy Editor. Press the Windows + R key combination to open the Run command window, then enter gpedit.msc there and press Enter to open Local Group Policy Editor.

Alternatively, enter gpedit.msc in the Search box on Start Menu and then press Enter .

Next on the Local Group Policy Editor window, navigate to the key:

Local Computer Policy => Computer Configuration => Windows Settings => Security Settings => Local Policies => Audit Policy

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Double-click the policy Audit logon events setting in the right pane to adjust options.

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Next on the Properties window, select the Success option to display the successful login. In addition, you can check the Failure option to display the failed login.

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5. Check recently used files

To check recently used files, open any applications you use regularly and check the Open recent option (or similar) in the File menu. Not all applications have this option, but it will show users the recently opened files, search for files that you don't recognize.

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You can also search for modified files on specified dates. Open a window and enter a related word on the left side of the window, then select the Date modified option and select a date on the calendar that appears.

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Windows will then search all the files in the Library folder that were changed that day. You can do the same in the C: drive, but Windows changes many files for normal use, so this may not yield the same results.

6. Check web browser history

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Finally, don't forget to check your web browser history. It will display a list of all recently opened websites and browse by date. But one thing you need to keep in mind is that browsing history can be deleted easily, but you can completely retrieve deleted browsing history.

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The best way to prevent someone from using your computer is to set a Windows user account password. Then whenever you leave the computer but don't want to turn it off, press Windows + L to lock the screen.

Part 2: On the Mac

On a Mac OS computer, you can only check if anyone uses your computer when you leave and is leaving the computer in Sleep mode, meaning that it will only store wake up activities. computer from Sleep mode. You can follow these steps:

Open the Console dialog box by pressing Command + Spacebar, or clicking the Spotlight icon and searching for it. Type the word "wake" into the search bar, then drag down to the bottom of the list, you will find the most recent login activities.

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A few simple, but effective tips that help you test your computer users when you're not there. This is quite useful to control the use of your computer or children, but in other cases you should set a password for your computer to ensure safety.

Refer to some of the following articles:

1. Summary of some ways to fix USB Device Not Recognized on Windows 7, 8 and 10
2. How to share a folder (folder) via LAN on Windows 10
3. Use CMD to create an 'undeleted' folder on Windows

Good luck!