Do you have stored some confidential folders on your Mac? Do you want to add an extra layer of security to files and folders on your Mac? Do not you know how to lock a folder on Mac? No need to worry; here are the best guidelines and ideas to lock folders safely and securely. These useful guidelines will show you how to lock a folder on your Mac.
There are many ways to lock a folder, you can buy a third-party encryption software, or just follow below steps to use Mac operating system built-in option to lock folders. Forget third-party software, paid or free – you can easily encrypt a folder on your Mac without any additional tools. Though the second way isn’t available in the original file’s format, but you can still get the additional protection. Follow us to password protect your folders on Mac.
SpyHunter Mac AntiMalware allows you to scan your Mac for threats and viruses for free, but you will need to purchase a full license to remove found threats. Now go to the Download Folder from the Docs and Install the SpyHunter Anti-Malware For Mac.
1. Create a new folder and add files that you wish to lock into this folder.
2. Right click on folder, and choose “Get Info” and note the size of its contents, this will be very important in following steps.
3. You can use Spotlight to quickly find Disk Utility or go to Applications -> Utilities -> Disk Utility.
4. Choose New Image icon from toolbar to create a new disk image.
5. Give a name to that image and choose a size sufficient to place folder you have created in earlier step. Click “Custom...” to enter the file size in MB which you acquired from Step 2. Then, add 5 MB to that value. Click on OK. 5 MB is added to make room for cache purposes. You cannot create a Disk Image less than 10.5 MB.
6. In the 'Encryption' category, select '128-bit AES encryption'. Set the partitions to “Single partition - Apple Partition Map” and leave 'Partitions' and 'Image Format' in their default settings. Next set the format to “read/write disk image”,this allows you to be able to add more content to the password protected disk image folder. Then click on create button to create the Disk Image.
7. After the creating progress completes, a new window will appear where you can creat your password to encrypt folder. Enter your 'Password' and re-type it in the 'Verify' box. Uncheck the 'Remember password in my keychain' option,having your keychain remember the password will automatically open the disk image on your Mac without asking for a password. Then, click on OK.
8. Transfer your confidential files to the Disk Image. Drag and drop your files which you want to lock into the Disk Image you have just created. You have to enter the password created before every time you want to access your secret files. Don't forget to eject the Disk Image after you are done viewing your secret files!
To be able to open encrypted disk image folders, just double-click the .dmg file to mount it in the Finder. Then enter the password and hit the “OK” button when you go to open the folders. Always uncheck the box saying “Remember password in my keychain” to make sure it is always protected by your password. Now You should be able to see your secure image folders mounted as a drive in the Finder. As long as you remember the password, you will always be able to open your folders.
Do not add the password to your keychain. If you keep this checked, then anyone can simply open your secret files because the password is saved in the computer memory.
Make sure your password is strong enough and you choose a password that you will remember as once you have encrypted these files with that password, you will not be able to access them without it.
The created DMG files are only accessible on a Mac.
Do not write the password down or put in on the computer.
Matt Cone December 19, 2011 TutorialsMac
You wouldn’t know it by using the Finder, but your Mac has thousands of hidden files that can’t be found or accessed using conventional methods, like opening a folder or searching with Spotlight. Most of these secret files are hidden from view to protect the innocent. Apple doesn’t want new users poking around in the /sbin
directory, because there’s no real reason why they would need to access it. But advanced users may want to see all of the files on their Mac, for whatever reason.
Here’s how to show hidden files on your Mac:
Open the Terminal application. (You can find it in Applications → Utilities.)
Enter the following command to force the Finder to show hidden files.
Press Return.
Now enter the following command to quit the Finder and restart it. (Or right click on the Finder icon while holding down the Option key and select Relaunch.)
Open a Finder window. The hidden files and directories are displayed with dimmed icons, as shown below.
Use caution when accessing hidden files and folders. There’s a reason why Apple decided to hide these items in Mac OS X. In a worse case scenario, you could accidentally edit and damage a critical file needed by an application or the operating system itself, which would necessitate a reinstall.
Now that you’ve revealed a ton of files on your Mac, you might be wondering what they are and what they do. Take a look at this comprehensive article for some of the most common types of hidden files and folders you’ll see. Remember, if you don’t know exactly what a hidden file or folder does, you should probably leave it alone!
If you previously enabled the hack to show hidden files on your Mac, and you’ve decided that you no longer want to see hidden files in the Finder, you can disable the feature. Here’s how to stop showing hidden files on your Mac:
Open the Terminal application. (You can find it in Applications → Utilities.)
Enter the following command to force the Finder to show hidden files.
Press Return.
Now enter the following command to quit the Finder and restart it. (Or right click on the Finder icon while holding down the Option key and select Relaunch.)
You’ve disabled the feature. Hidden files will no longer be displayed in the Finder.
Sign up and get Macinstruct's tutorials delivered to your inbox. No spam, promise!