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Hi!
I have a desktop iMac that worked great while I was in school. Now that I'm working, I have a PC (lenovo) and a provided docking station (but no monitors).
I don't want to have to put my iMac in storage. Would it damage my iMac or my work computer to use a thunderbolt-->HDMI cable and hook the PC laptop up to the iMac to use as a monitor for work?
iMac 24″, macOS 11.6
Issue #1
Your tag line says the you have a 24" iMac running macOS 11.6.
A 24" iMac that is able to run macOS 11.6 (Big Sur) would be an iMac (24-inch, M1, 2021). Those do not support Target Display Mode. (Target Display Mode went away when the first 27" 5K Retina iMac came out in Late 2014, and never returned.). The 24" M3 iMac is too new to run Big Sur, and there were no 24" iMacs released between 2010 and 2020.
The 24" iMac from Early 2009 did support Target Display Mode, using DisplayPort input. That Mac could not run anything later than OS X 10.11.6 (El Capitan). Apple retroactively put restrictions on Target Display mode – saying that the video source has to be a Mac released in 2019 or earlier, running Catalina or earlier. Thus, even if you had that old Mac, if you could get things to work, it would be "Christmas."
Reference: Use your iMac as a display with target display mode - Apple Support
Issue #2
As far as I know, there are no such things as "Thunderbolt --> HDMI cables". There are
These are meant to be used with the USB-C (DisplayPort) or Mini DisplayPort end plugged into the computer (video source), and it is not at all clear that they would work if plugged in "backwards" – even to a real hardware monitor.
If that iMac is neither a 2009/2010 model, then it is not supported as a display (because it is a computer) on any PC. You will need a proper external display and cabling to support the resolution that you need from that Lenovo PC.
Nope' the 24" iMac is a computer and can not be used as a display for Mac's, PC's or Game consoles.
Your best bet, is to use an external display with the Lenovo and Docking station.
Using iMac as a monitor for PC
