Setup Guide

Everything to turn a Mac into a sealed kiosk — start to finish.

01 — Hardware

Pick the machine

Any Mac on macOS 14.0 (Sonoma) or later. A Mac mini behind the display is the classic kiosk setup.
Use whatever screen fits the space — Canned Web can run on a built-in or any connected display, and you choose which in the operator screen.
Mount it securely and route cables out of reach. Keep it on power — kiosks run all day.

02 — Prepare macOS

Four one-time settings

No Energy settings needed — Canned Web keeps the display awake while sealed and auto-starts at login on its own, so you only need the four below. The buttons jump straight to the right pane when you open this page on the kiosk Mac.

So a power cut or restart boots straight back into the kiosk — no login screen a visitor can’t get past.

System Settings → Users & Groups → “Automatically log in as”

Open Users & Groups

Don’t require a password on wake

If the display sleeps or someone taps the power button, the Mac wakes straight to your site instead of a locked login screen.

System Settings → Lock Screen → “Require password after…” → Never

Open Lock Screen

Turn on a Focus

Do Not Disturb stops notification banners from popping up over the sealed site.

System Settings → Focus → Do Not Disturb → turn on (or schedule it always-on)

Open Focus

Defer automatic updates

Keeps macOS from restarting the machine for an update in the middle of an exhibition.

System Settings → General → Software Update → turn off “Install macOS updates”

Open Software Update

03 — Install

Install Canned Web

Download the app, open the file, and drag Canned Web to your Applications folder.
On first launch, grant Accessibility permission when prompted — it’s what lets the app block Spotlight, Cmd-Tab and other escapes. The setup walks you through it and confirms once it’s on.

Download for Mac

04 — Seal & exit

Seal your site

Enter the URL you want to display and pick your options (lock to domain, scroll-only, on-screen controls, display).
Hold ⌘⇧S to seal — the site takes over the whole screen and the Mac is locked to it.
To exit, hold ⌘⇧S again and enter your exit password. It’s the only way out, so a visitor can’t stumble on it.

05 — Troubleshooting

If something’s off

The kiosk won’t seal: Grant Accessibility permission — Canned Web needs it to block system shortcuts. The app checks this on first launch and shows you the exact setting.
The screen keeps going to sleep: Canned Web holds the display awake while sealed, so this is usually the monitor’s own sleep timer or power button — check the external display’s settings.
A visitor left the site / got stuck: Turn on “Lock to domain” and idle-refresh in the operator screen: off-site links won’t navigate, and the kiosk returns to your home page after a period of inactivity.
Moving to a different Mac: Open the operator screen, choose “Release this license”, then activate the key on the new machine. Each license covers one machine at a time.