Locked workspaces
A locked workspace is a workspace that hides its tabs when you leave it and opens again only after you verify it is you. It also has its own sign-ins. Use one for work or private research on a computer other people can reach.
How you unlock
Locked workspaces have no separate Acira code. Acira asks your operating system to verify you.
- On Windows, that is Windows Hello: your face, fingerprint or PIN. If Windows Hello is not set up on the PC, Windows asks for your Windows account password.
- On a Mac, Acira asks macOS to verify you. If you cancel or it fails, the workspace stays locked.
If Windows cannot protect the workspace on your PC, Acira says Windows can't protect a locked workspace on this PC and does not lock it.
On a Mac, the menus and messages on this page say macOS where they say Windows Hello or Windows on a PC. For example, Unlock with Windows Hello reads Unlock with macOS, and Only when Windows locks reads Only when macOS locks.
Lock a workspace
You cannot lock your first workspace. Acira says Your first workspace can't be locked. Lock another one. That workspace is where tabs go when another one locks.
When you make a new workspace
- Open the workspace switcher and choose New workspace….
- Turn on Lock this workspace (marked Beta). It reads: Its own sign-ins, kept only in memory. Its tabs hide when you leave it and open with Windows Hello.
- Choose Create. Windows verifies you once, so you cannot lock yourself out.
For a workspace you already have
- Open the workspace. Right-click its icon in the sidebar, or choose the ⋯ next to its name, or open the switcher from the workspace chip.
- Choose Lock this workspace. Its subtitle reads Own sign-ins · opens with Windows Hello.
- Verify when Windows asks. Acira then says the workspace now locks when you leave it.
When you lock a workspace that already has tabs, they reload inside the workspace's own session. Its pinned tabs are unpinned, and its list of closed tabs (for Undo) is dropped.
To stop locking a workspace, open it and choose Stop locking this workspace. The workspace must be open to do this.
What locking does
When a locked workspace locks, Acira first writes its tabs, tab groups and split views to an encrypted file on this computer. Only after that does it remove them from every window. If it cannot write the file, nothing is hidden or lost, and Acira says This workspace couldn't be locked, so its tabs stay open.
While locked:
- The workspace shows one lock screen: {name} is locked, with a button, Unlock with Windows Hello.
- Its tabs, groups and splits are not in the tab strip, the sidebar, the tab viewer, command search or the other workspaces' lists.
- The switcher shows only Locked, with no tab count.
- The only menu item for the workspace is Unlock with Windows Hello. You cannot rename, recolor, delete or move tabs or tab groups into it. Acira says Unlock {name} first.
- Its pages are hidden, muted and paused. A page that is using the camera, microphone or screen closes, so no device stays active behind the lock.
Open a locked workspace
- Open the locked workspace and choose Unlock with Windows Hello. You can also choose the same item in the workspace's menu.
- Verify when asked.
Your tabs, groups and splits come back as they were. If you open it again in the same window, the same pages return with their scroll position and unsent form text, and media that was playing resumes. If you open it in another window or after restarting Acira, the pages reload from the saved addresses. If the check fails, Acira says Couldn't unlock. Try again.
When a workspace locks
| Trigger | Detail |
|---|---|
| You ask | Choose Lock now in the workspace's menu. |
| You leave it | Switching to another workspace locks it. |
| You step away | After no keyboard or mouse use on the PC for the time you set (see below). Acira checks every 30 seconds, so locking can come up to 30 seconds after the time you chose. |
| You minimize the window | Always. |
| Windows locks or sleeps | Always. |
| You close the window or quit Acira | Always. |
A locked workspace is also locked when Acira starts. It never stays open across a restart.
Choose how long before it locks
Open Settings › Privacy › Secured workspaces and use Lock secured workspaces (marked Beta).
| Choice | Meaning |
|---|---|
| After 1 min away | Locks after 1 minute with no keyboard or mouse use |
| After 5 min away (default) | Locks after 5 minutes |
| After 15 min away | Locks after 15 minutes |
| After 30 min away | Locks after 30 minutes |
| Only when Windows locks | No timer. The other triggers still apply. |
There is no "never". Leaving the workspace, minimizing the window, Windows locking and quitting always lock it. The lock screen has a Change link that opens this setting.
Its own sign-ins
A locked workspace has a separate, temporary session. Sites you sign in to there are not signed in anywhere else, and sites you signed in to elsewhere are not signed in there. The session lives in memory. It is gone when you quit Acira, so you sign in again after a restart. Cookies and site data are not shared with your normal tabs or with another locked workspace.
For separate sign-ins that last, make a profile instead.
What else is different inside
- Extensions do not run. The Extensions panel says they do not run in a secured workspace and lists each one as unavailable.
- Notifications are neutral. A page's notification shows as New notification in a locked workspace, with none of the page's words, and only while the workspace is open. Notifications from a frame inside a page or a service worker are refused.
- Downloads always ask where to save. They are listed as private. The file itself is an ordinary file.
- Nothing is recorded. Pages there are not added to history, the closed-tab list, Rewind or bookmarks, and they are never pinned. Groups and splits are allowed, and they are sealed with the tabs.
- Tabs stay put. A tab or tab group from a locked workspace cannot be moved out to a workspace that is not locked. Acira says Tabs of a locked workspace stay in it.
- No Pull requests folder. The sidebar's Pull requests folder is not shown while a locked workspace is open.
- Screen capture. While a page from the workspace is on screen, Acira asks Windows to keep the window out of screen capture. This also blanks its taskbar preview.
Limits
- It does not protect against malware running as you, against a person using your session while the workspace is open, or against what is held in RAM or the page file. Keeping pages alive for a quick reopen is not encryption of memory.
- Keeping the window out of screen capture is not guaranteed. On a Mac, macOS screen capture can still see it.
- A locked page can be paused but not always frozen. Acira hides, mutes and stops it, but the engine's freezing is not guaranteed and a kept page may run background scripts.
- The name and icon of a locked workspace stay visible.
- A site you visited before you locked the workspace stays in your normal history.
- Downloaded files are not sealed.
- You cannot lock your first workspace.
- A workspace's tabs live in one window at a time.
- The feature is built and tested most on Windows. Treat the Mac version as less proven.
Locked workspaces are not a hiding place for private tabs or Tor tabs. Open those separately.
Last updated November 8, 2026