Hi @AnnL ,
Yes, there is way to scan your changes locally using SonarLint! You can then bind or create a connection to your SonarCloud account/organization and then sync those changes with SonarLint. Download the extension for your IDE (as shown in the link above) and follow the instructions for your IDE.
Here are additional links for your reference:
We are working on updating and combining our SonarLint docs, so that’s why the instructions are spread out.
Please note the limitations as explained in Frequently asked questions about SonarLint.