Press Kit

Cats Lock is a Mac desktop app that blocks your keyboard with a customizable global shortcut so your cat can walk on it without sending chaos into your work. A friendly overlay shows when locked; Stealth Lock keeps it silent and invisible for meetings. $2.99 one-time, sandboxed, no subscriptions.

Cats Lock is a Mac desktop app for people who share a desk with a cat. A customizable global shortcut (default ⌘L) locks the keyboard from any app, so your cat can settle in for a nap, walk across the keys, or knead the trackpad without sending chaos into your active document. A friendly overlay appears while locked, and a customizable warning sound plays on each blocked keypress so you can hear from the next room when your cat has joined the keyboard. Stealth Lock keeps the lock silent and invisible for meetings or recordings. Optional toggles hide the app from the Dock for menu-bar-only use, and prevent the Mac from sleeping while locked so the overlay stays visible while you step away. Fully sandboxed for the Mac App Store, no account, no analytics, $2.99 one-time. Built by indie developer Todd Alexander for him and his cat to enjoy.

Cats Lock is a Mac desktop app for people who share a desk with a cat. The interaction is intentionally minimal: one press of a customizable global shortcut (default ⌘L) locks the keyboard from any app, so your cat can stretch out, walk across the keys, or settle in for a nap without sending anything into your active document. While locked, a friendly full-screen overlay shows the lock state, and a customizable warning sound plays on each blocked keypress. Useful as an audible cue from the next room when your cat has joined the keyboard while you're away from the desk, or just pure enjoyable and shareable content.

Stealth Lock mode swaps that experience for a silent, invisible variant. The keyboard is still blocked, but no overlay appears and no sound plays, which is helpful if you want to lock the keyboard during a meeting, recording, or call without any visual or audio side effect. Unlock always uses the configured shortcut.

Two optional toggles round out the experience: Hide from Dock turns Cats Lock into a pure menu-bar app with no Dock icon and no Cmd+Tab presence, and Prevent Sleep While Locked holds the display awake so the overlay stays visible if you step away from the desk. Launch at Login is supported through the system service so the menu bar icon is ready when your Mac boots.

Cats Lock is built fully within the App Store sandbox, with no analytics SDK, no account creation, and no telemetry. The core lock needs no special permissions; the only feature that requests Accessibility is optional function-key locking, which stays off unless the user turns it on. It is sold for $2.99 as a one-time purchase with no subscription tier and no upsells. The app launched on the Mac App Store on May 15, 2026.