Is it safe to leave your laptop in a hotel room?

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You're heading out for dinner and the laptop is on the desk. Take it, or leave it? Police advice is to leave valuables in your room's safe or the hotel safe, and a locked, encrypted laptop protects your files if it goes anyway.

Quick answer

Take only what you need when you go out, and leave the laptop in the room safe or the hotel safe, as police.uk advises. Lock the room door and windows. Before you travel, turn on FileVault and Find My on a Mac, or device encryption and Find my device on Windows, and check what your insurance covers.

Where should I keep my laptop in a hotel room?

In a safe, not on the desk. Police.uk's advice for visitors to London is to think about what you need before going out and to leave valuables in the safe deposit box in your room or in the hotel safe. It also says not to leave your room door and windows open or unlocked when you leave.

  1. Decide whether you need the laptop with you. If you take it, police.uk says to keep laptops close at hand and never unattended. If not, put it away rather than leaving it out.
  2. Use the room safe if the laptop fits. Check on the first evening rather than at the last minute.
  3. If it doesn't fit, ask reception whether they can keep it in the hotel safe.
  4. Close and lock the windows and the door as you leave.

Police.uk also says not to leave luggage unattended, even for a few seconds, as hotel lobbies attract thieves.

Can hotels open room safes?

Ask the hotel. We couldn't find an official source on who can open a hotel room safe, and it may differ between hotels. Ask at reception how a room safe is opened if a guest forgets the code, and who can do it.

So treat the safe as one layer, not the only one. If the laptop is locked and encrypted, someone who opens the safe can still take it, but needs your password to get at your files.

Is the hotel's own safe better than the room safe?

It can matter if something goes missing. In England, Wales and Scotland, the Hotel Proprietors Act 1956 limits a hotel's liability as an innkeeper to £50 for any one item and £100 in total for one guest, as long as the hotel displayed the notice the Act requires at or near reception. The Act says the limit doesn't apply if the property was stolen, lost or damaged through the fault of the hotel or its staff; if it was deposited expressly for safe custody with the hotel or a member of staff authorised to take it, in a sealed container if they ask for one; or if the hotel refused to take it for safe custody.

The Act doesn't mention safes in rooms. It has other conditions, it doesn't apply in Northern Ireland, and abroad the law differs. This is a summary, not legal advice: ask the hotel what it covers, and check your own insurance.

How do I lock and encrypt my laptop before I travel?

On a Mac. Apple says a Mac with Apple silicon or the Apple T2 Security Chip encrypts its data automatically, and turning on FileVault adds an extra layer by requiring your login password to get at the data.

  1. You need to be an administrator. Choose Apple menu > System Settings, click Privacy & Security, then click FileVault.
  2. Turn it on, and choose either to let your iCloud account unlock the disk or to create a recovery key. If you choose a key, keep it away from the Mac, not in the same bag.
  3. Then choose Apple menu > System Settings > Lock Screen and set "Require password after screen saver begins or display is turned off" to a short time.
  4. Turn on "Show message when locked". Apple says it can be used to give contact information for a lost Mac.

To lock the screen as you leave the room, press Control-Command-Q, or see how to lock your Mac screen.

On Windows. Microsoft says device encryption turns on BitLocker for the system drive and fixed drives, and switches on automatically when you first sign in with a Microsoft account or a work or school account. With a local account, it doesn't.

  1. Sign in with an administrator account.
  2. Open Settings and go to Privacy & security > Device encryption.
  3. Turn it on. If it isn't listed, Microsoft says it may be unavailable on your device, or you may be signed in with a standard account.

Press Windows key + L to lock the PC whenever you step away.

Should I turn on Find My before a trip?

Yes. It only helps with a laptop it was set up on before it went missing.

Mac: choose Apple menu > System Settings, click your name, then iCloud. Click See All, scroll down, click Find My Mac, then Turn On, and allow it to use your Mac's location. If it's lost, Apple says you can see it in the Find My app on another Apple device or at icloud.com/find, and turn on Lost Mode.

Windows: Microsoft says Find my device must be turned on before you can use it, needs an administrator account, works when you sign in with a Microsoft personal account, and works when location is turned on for the device. Turn it on in Find my device settings. To find or lock the laptop, go to account.microsoft.com/devices.

Police.uk also suggests keeping a note of your devices' serial numbers with copies of your travel documents.

Does travel insurance cover a laptop left in a hotel room?

It depends on the policy. The government's travel insurance guidance says to read the small print and get to know the policy's exclusion clauses. Before you travel, ask your insurer:

  1. Whether the laptop is covered, and up to what amount for one item.
  2. What the policy says about items left in a hotel room or a safe.
  3. What they'll need from you if it's stolen, such as a police report and proof of purchase.

Check your home contents insurance too: Avon and Somerset Police suggest checking the small print of your policy. If the laptop is stolen, Microsoft advises reporting it to the local police and to your insurance company.

Where Failshot fits

Failshot doesn't prevent theft, and it can't find a laptop on demand. It covers a narrower moment: someone unlocking your Mac. So in a hotel, it only helps if someone gets past your login.

  • Failshot for Mac is out now as a free download from failshot.app, for macOS 14 or later. Turning it on needs Failshot Pro, a paid subscription, with no free trial. One subscription covers every Mac signed in with the same email. Failshot Pro is £3.99 a month or £23.99 a year, VAT included, for as long as you stay subscribed, if you subscribe by 31 October 2026. From 1 November 2026 new subscriptions are £5.99 a month or £35.99 a year.
  • With Failshot on and allowed to use the camera, it photographs whoever unlocks your Mac in your account, then by default records a 5-second video. Video can be switched off. Sound is off unless you turn it on, and the app warns you that recording someone's voice without their permission is against the law in some places.
  • Whoever unlocks sees Failshot's window saying the unlock was photographed, and when a video is recording. With the Mac's built-in camera, the green light comes on.
  • Email alerts are optional, and off until you turn them on. With them on and signed in to a Failshot account, an alert with the photo, the time and, when it's ready in time, the video follows shortly after an unlock you don't confirm as yours. Unlocks you confirm as yours don't send one. With alerts on, Failshot also emails you about a wrong Failshot PIN or answer, or its camera access being switched off while it's on. Location is off until you turn it on in Settings and allow it; then an alert can say roughly where the Mac was when it was unlocked.
  • Photos are kept on your Mac. They leave it only in email alerts and the encrypted web vault, if you turn those on, and, if you join your organisation with its invite code, encrypted for its security team too.
  • Switching it off, or quitting it from its menu, takes Touch ID or your Failshot PIN and answer, never your Mac password. Like any Mac app, it can still be force-quit. A wrong Failshot PIN or answer takes another photo.

It doesn't photograph a wrong password at the login or lock screen. It doesn't photograph the first login after a restart or a log out. Logging out, restarting or shutting down closes Failshot without asking for Touch ID or your Failshot PIN, and unless you've set it to start at login, it stays off until you open it again. It can't find a laptop on demand: location, if you turn it on, is noted only at an unlock. It has no remote lock or wipe. Failshot is for your own Mac, or one your organisation has authorised you to manage. iPhone, Android and Windows versions are coming soon.

Questions people also ask

Is it safe to leave a laptop in a hotel room?

It's safer locked away than left out. Police.uk advises leaving valuables in the safe deposit box in your room or the hotel safe, and locking your door and windows.

Can hotel staff open the safe in my room?

We couldn't find an official source that says who can open a hotel room safe, and it may vary between hotels. Ask at reception how room safes are opened if a guest is locked out, and who can do it. Keep the laptop locked and encrypted as well.

What should I do if my laptop is stolen from a hotel room?

Tell the hotel and report it to the local police, then your insurer. On a Mac, use Find My to see it and turn on Lost Mode. On Windows, use account.microsoft.com/devices to find and lock it. Then change your passwords.

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