How to Password Protect Folder on Mac

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There are probably how to Password Protect Folder on your Mac that you don’t want other people to see. Personal documents, sensitive financial information, and work products are all good examples of files that other people shouldn’t be able to see.

Putting passwords on your digital files is the easiest way to keep them safe. Here, we’ll show you how to lock a folder and give it a password. We’ll also talk about some ways to protect your digital documents and make them take up less space on your Mac.

How to Password Protect Folder on Mac

Data can have real value, and just like anything else of value, it needs to be locked up sometimes so that other people can’t look at it or steal it. If you have sensitive information or secret projects on your Mac, you might not want other people to be able to open them.

This is especially true if you let other people use your Mac, but computers can also be broken into by people from the outside. Thanks to built-in or third-party tools, it’s easy to protect files and folders on your Mac with a password. And since you’ll encrypt the data at the same time, anyone who doesn’t know your password won’t be able to read it.

• Open the Disk Utility app. To find this, launch Finder, click Applications in the left-side menu, and click the Utilities folder.
• You can also find it via Spotlight – press the Command and Spacebar on your keyboard and type “Disk Utility”.
• Now, with Disk Utility open, click File and move your mouse over New Image.
• Click Image From Folder from the list of options.
• Select the folder that you want to password protect and click Choose.
• You will need to choose a level of encryption. Click the Encryption drop down and select either 128-bit AES encryption or 256-bit AES encryption.
• Now enter the password you want to use to protect the folder. Enter it again to verify (this ensures you don’t make a mistake). It’s always a good idea to learn how to create strong passwords.
• Click the drop down box next to Image Format and select read/write. This will ensure you can edit your folder in the future. Click Save.
• A folder disk image will be created (it will have the suffix .dmg). It may take some time. When it’s complete, click Done.
• You will now have two folders – the disk image and the original folder. The original folder will be unprotected. If you don’t need the non-password protected folder, remember to delete it.

Using Notes

1. Open the Notes app on your Mac
2. Select the file you want to protect with a password
3. In the menu bar of the Notes window, click the ‘lock’ icon
4. Select “Lock Note”
5. Enter a password for the Note you’d like to protect

Preview

1. Open Preview on your Mac
2. Select the PDF file you want to password protect
3. In the menu bar, select “File”
4. Select “Export”
5. In the ensuing menu, check the “Encrypt” box
6. Add and verify your password
7. Select “Save”

‎Why password protect folders?

More of us should use passwords to protect our files and folders, especially when it comes to important documents. It’s especially important for those of us who use cloud storage, because if your container is hacked, all of your sensitive data could be made public.

One reason we like BetterZip so much is that it makes it easy to compress and protect files, and it also lets you keep syncing folders to your cloud storage containers. It adds to what you’re already doing, and power users with complex needs can even use AppleScript with it.

FAQ

How do you password protect a file on a Mac?

Choose File > Set Password (from the File menu at the top of your screen), enter the requested information, then click Set Password. If your computer isn’t set up for Touch ID, “Remember this password in my keychain” appears.

How do I prevent access to a folder on a Mac?

Choose Apple menu > System Settings, then click Privacy & Security in the sidebar. (You may need to scroll down.) Click Files and Folders. For each app in the list, turn the ability to access files and folders in specific locations on or off.

How do I put a password on a folder and file?

1. Go to File > Info > Protect Document > Encrypt with Password.
2. Type a password, then type it again to confirm it.
3. Save the file to make sure the password takes effect.