What is Kensington Lock? Features & Benefits Explained!

There are so many things on our electronic devices that are unknown to many folks, Kensington Lock is one of them. Devices, such as laptops, gaming consoles, and monitors possess it. Now the question is; what is Kensington Lock? & why do you even care about it?

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What is Kensington Lock?

Basically, It’s a rectangular-shaped metal-reinforced hole where a metal anchor combined with a key or combination lock can be inserted. From it, a thick rubberized metal cable coming out. In the end, there is a small loop that allows the cable to be looped around a permanent object like a table or something similar to secure permanent locations. Kensington lock is also named ‘K-Lock’ or ‘K-Slot’ and can be found in almost all the portable devices made after the year 2000.

How to Identify a Kensington Lock?

First of all, it is shaped in a rectangular form, and most importantly a small mark is found beside it (Shown in the image below) which confirms that the particular hole is used for Kensington Lock. 

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What’s the exact position of Kensington Lock?

Although it completely depends on the manufacturer of the device normally there are some known locations where it is placed over so many years. On laptops, this hole can be found either in the back corner of the laptop or the side of its body. In the case of the monitor, it’s always on the back and in some rear cases, it can be found underneath the monitor.

Why Do you Even Use Kensington Lock?

Imagine, you’re sitting in a coffee shop and working on your laptop, a snatcher comes near to you and runs away with your laptop. In this type of crucial situation, you need a lot of time to understand what just has happened to you. When you understand the whole situation, the thief will vanish. In this type of situation, Kensington lock helps a lot. Basically, these locks are useful to protect your lovable device from quick grab and run thefts. But it isn’t 100% safe, neither for you nor for your device.

Vulnerability of Kensington Lock

As I mentioned it’s not 100% safe, Kensington locks are not designed to provide impervious protection. They can be vulnerable if the wire is cut with a bolt cutter AKA wire cutter which will definitely vary between different brands of cable or give very heavy force on the lock itself. Because most computer equipment is made out of plastic or thin metal. The lock can be broken without leaving any significant damage on the body of the particular device. 

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Bottom Line…

In the end, I would say it’s just a layer of security to discourage quick grab-and-run thieves but that doesn’t mean this lock completely secures your device. So, it’s better to take care of your device on your own. Don’t take any kind of risks if you don’t want to lose your gadgets. Hope you guys understand “What is Kensington Lock and what is the use of it?” If so, then don’t forget to comment down below to appreciate my work. Thanks for visiting.

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