How to Password Protect a Folder on Mac
If you share your Mac with more users and have contents that you would prefer they had forbidden access to, one solution that is at your disposal it is to put them all in a folder and protect them with a password. So every time someone tries to open that folder and access its files they will have to enter a special code. How to do it? It is pretty easy. In OneHowTo.com we explain how to password protect a folder on Mac.
Steps to follow:
The best way to password protect folders on Mac is to turn a folder full of files you want to hide into an encrypted disk image.
Therefore, the first step will be to go to Applications > Utilities > Disk utilities.
Once you are in Disk Utility, go to the file menu and select New > Disk Image from folder.
A pop up window will open. Select the folder you want to protect and click 'Image'.
A new window in which you must select how you want to save that image will open. Open the Format drop-down menu and select the image Read / Write; and Encryption and select 128-bit AES encryption. Click Save.
You can also select 256-bit AES encryption if you are very concerned about the security of the documents in the file, though you should note that it might take longer to encrypt.
A window in which you have to enter the password you want to use to protect that folder will open. Write it in both fields, make sure that the 'Save password in key chain' is not checked, and click OK.
If you check the 'Save password in key chain' the computer will automatically remember this password and it will be of no use at all.
A dmg file is created in the directory in which you have the folder you want to protect. Check that you are asked for the password when trying to open it and that all is in order. You can now delete the original folder and leave only the protected one so nobody can access your files.
Take into account that you won't be able to add many other files to the password protected folder, as the file has a maximum capacity. If that's the case, you will have to create an encrypted sparse image file instead.
If you don't want these secret files on your desktop, you can also learn how to password protect your USB Key too.
If you want to read similar articles to How to Password Protect a Folder on Mac, we recommend you visit our Computers category.
