Are you a Mac user who needs to password-protect a folder? It can be stressful knowing that sensitive information like financial documents, passwords, and personal photos are vulnerable to being accessed without your permission unless you know how to password protect folders on Mac.
Luckily, Mac computers offer simple yet effective ways to protect the contents of specific folders with passwords. In this blog post, I’ll talk about how to password protect folders on Mac to keep your files safe and secure on macOS!
Locking A Folder On Mac
When it comes to your data, protection is paramount. Just as you’d secure anything of value, the same goes for content that’s sensitive or confidential – like ones safeguarded in a locked box – you’ll want to make sure only those with access can open them on your Mac. Whether projects are top-secret or require special clearance, ensure that no one else has eyes beyond what they’re authorized!
Especially if you share your Apple Mac with other people, computers can be vulnerable to malicious attacks from external entities. Thus, it is important for individuals and companies alike to remain vigilant of possible security breaches that may occur.
So, how to lock any folder on your Mac? Well, there are two ways to do that as stated below:
- Locking a folder with Mac Terminal
- Locking a folder using Disk Utility
Let me explain these two techniques step by step in further sections.
How To Password Protect Folders On Mac Using Mac Terminal?
The first way to password-protect a folder on Mac is by using the Mac Terminal. What Is Terminal?
Terminal is an application on your Mac that allows you to access the command line and carry out various tasks, such as creating new folders or renaming old ones. The process of locking a folder with Terminal requires some technical understanding of how to use the command line, but with careful instruction, anyone can do it!
Follow the steps stated below.
- To access the Terminal application, navigate to your “Utilities” folder in Applications. Opening it will provide you with all of its convenient features!
- In this case, we need to protect the folder named “AdobeInstallers”.
- To view the metadata of a folder such as “AdobeInstallers” in Finder, right-click it and select “Get Info.” A new window will then open revealing information associated with the folder like its size, date created, and location.
- Navigate to the “General” area and copy down the file path of the folder.
- To complete the task, simply return to the Terminal and enter “cd” (without quotes) followed by a space before pasting in the path from earlier.
- Afterward, press the Return key. Then type “ls” and hit “Return” again.
- Now, type the command, Zip –er AbobeInstallersEncrypted.zip “AdobeInstallers”. In this command, AdobeInstallersEncrypted is the name of the ZIP file.
- Again, hit Return. Enter the password and press Return.
You can locate the Zip archive “AdobeInstallersEncrypted” in your Documents folder. To access it, double-click and input the password into the prompt that appears.
How To Password Protect Folders On Mac Using Disk Utility?
The second way of password-protecting a folder on a Mac is by using its Disk Utility feature. Disk Utility is invaluable when it comes to safeguarding sensitive information. With this tool, you can craft a password-protected disk image that will contain all your confidential data. You’ll be able to mount the newly created volume and ensure only those with the correct password gain access!
With Disk Utility, you can rest assured that your data is safe from unwanted access due to its utilization of either 128-bit or 256-bit AES encryption. Now, let me share the process of password-protecting folders using Disk Utility.
- First, you need to access Disk Utility. For that, go to Applications and then to Utilities.
- Now, go to the menu bar. From this bar, select “new image” and then “image from folder”.
- Subsequently, select the folder you wish to secure with a password and press Choose.
- If you’d like, give your secure folder a name or location. From the Encryption dropdown menu, select an option. In this case, a 128-bit AES encryption should suffice. Then click Save to complete the process.
- Pick a secure password and then click the Choose button to continue.
- You can also click the key icon and let your macOS device generate a robust password for you. Once complete, press Choose!
- Expand the “Image Format” option, and select both read and write capabilities. This will enable you to add and delete content from your secure folder in the future if needed.
- To conclude, be sure to click “Save” for your changes to take effect.
- Allow Disk Utility to complete the encryption of your folder before proceeding.
- After the encryption process is complete, you will be provided with a password-protected disk image and your original folder. Unless you need it for future reference, feel free to dispose of the old folder.
How To Open A Locked Folder?
You’ve learned how to password protect folders on Mac, but how do you unlock your Mac’s locked folder? All you have to do is double-click the .dmg file and enter the correct password when prompted. Then, voila – once verified, this disk image will mount up and give you access to its contents where you can add or remove files/folders as desired.
Is It Possible To Breach Mac’s Password Protection On Folders?
It is possible for someone to gain access to Mac’s password-protected folder. How this happens depends on the type of encryption used and the strength of your password. If you are using a weak password, or if the security method employed isn’t up to date, then it could be relatively easy for an experienced hacker to breach your system.
Therefore, it is essential that you stay on top of Mac security and regularly update your encryption protocol. Additionally, make sure to choose a secure password and don’t reuse passwords across different devices or platforms. Following these precautions should help keep you safe!
There You Go!
You now know How To Password Protect Folders on Mac. With this knowledge, you can easily protect your sensitive information and keep it out of the wrong hands! Just remember to select a good password and update your encryption protocol regularly to stay secure. Good luck!
