Hold 'Control' and click the file or folder you plan to password protect. This is Apple's equivalent to.
This articles explains how you can password protect your folders and files on your Mac. You can assign passwords for files and folders. Everyone must enter to open the file or folder because the contents of your locked files or folders will be hidden.
Important note: Although password protecting requires different steps for different file and folder types, it is common for most of them the that there’s no way to recover your password if you forget it.
- 5 Tips to Password Protect File on Mac. If you want to know how to password protect a document on Mac, you need to understand various tips, especially if the file is in any of the storage areas mentioned below. Tip 1: Encrypt Documents and Files.
- Hide and password-protect files & folders on Mac; Hide and password-protect files & folders on Mac. #Mac #OS X / By TechieDip / / 5 min read. It is quite a usual practice to store confidential data on personal computers. And when it comes to data protection, Mac OS X offers an in-house option called FileVault that fully encrypts the startup.
This article has two parts: (1) how to lock a folder (2) how to lock a file
Password Protect Zip Files Mac
See also: Slow iCloud Keychain?
1. Password Protect Folders
By following the steps below, you will create a password protected disk image (DMG) folder on a Mac. If you want to password protect files certain files like images etc, you may place them in password protected folders.
In this tutorial, we are password protecting a folder called macReports.
1. Open Disk Utility (Applications / Utilities / Disk Utility).
2. In Disk Utility, go to File > New Image > Image from Folder…
3. Now, select the folder you want to password protect. In our example, it is the macReports folder, and click Choose
4. You can save this new folder as anything you want. Select where you want to save this folder. You can name it anything you wish. Encryption, select “128-bit AES Encryption (Recommended)” and image format, select “read/write”. When you select the encryption, you will be asked to enter a password. Enter your desired password and click Choose.
5. And after that, click Save. Disk Utility will say ” Creating folder disk image “macReports.dmg”. It may take several seconds, when it is completed, click Done. Now, you may wan to delete the original folder.
2. Password Protect Files
You can also password protect individual files, if you prefer. But the process is different for different file types. here is how:
Password Protect your Notes
See also: How to create text files
Please note that the Notes app uses a one (single) password to lock all notes. Here is how:
1. Open the Notes app on your Mac
2. Create or select an existing note to lock
3. Click the padlock icon and select Lock Note
4. You will be asked to enter your password. It is also recommended that you enter a password hint. The hint will be displayed after you entered a wrong password three times. All of your other Apple devices (iOS, iPhone or iPad and macOS) will use this password if they are using the same iCloud account.
5. Click Set Password
To remove a Notes password, again click the padlock icon and and select Remove Lock.
Password Protect PDF Files in Preview
You can password protect PDF files in the Preview app (PDF won’t open?). Here is how:
1. Open the PDF file you wish to password protect in Preview
2. Go to File > Export
![File File](/uploads/1/1/8/9/118922404/276710188.png)
3. Select the “Encrypt” box, enter your password and click Save.
4. Next time you want to open this file you will need to enter its password.
Note that you can password protect other file types using this method. You can simply convert your files to PDF files in Preview by going to File > Export as PDF.
Password protect Pages documents, Keynote presentations and Numbers files
In this article, we are further showing how you can password-protect a Pages document. The steps are identical for Keynote and Numbers as well. Here is how:
1. Open the Pages, Numbers or Keynote file you wish to password protect and go to File > Set Password
2. A new window (require a password to open this document) will appear. Enter your password. You may want to enter a hint also. If you are using the Keychain app, you may want to check the “Remember this password in my keychain” box so that you can add the password to your keychain.
As stated above, you can use the same steps to password protect Keynote presentations and Numbers files.
You can also change or remove your password protected Pages, Keynote and Numbers files by going to Choose File > Change Password. And enter your password, after that you can change or remove the password.
Password Protect Folder On Mac
Confidential files are supposed to stay secure at all cost. To keep the prying eyes at bay or offer an additional shield to your sensitive information, never fail to password protect your PDF files on your Mac.
The Preview app for Mac makes it pretty easy to safeguard any doc with an extra layer of defense. Moreover, it also allows you to customize the security options to make the PDF file require password not only for copying text and images but also for printing.
So, if the security of any of your project is bothering you, follow along this straightforward guide to learn how to create an encrypted PDF file on macOS!
There are two ways:
How to Password Protect PDFs on Mac Using Preview App
Step #1. Open the PDF file in the Preview app on your Mac.
Step #2. Now, click on File menu and choose Export.
Step #3. Next, check the box for Encrypt.
Step #4. Next up, enter the password. you need to retype it to verify. Then, click on Save.
Note: Keep in mind if you don’t change the name of the doc, Mac will overwrite the existing content. If you don’t want to create a secondary encrypted PDF file, do not tweak the name.
Step #5. Finally, click on Replace.
That’s it! You’ve successfully saved your PDF file with a password on your Mac. If you wish to add even stronger shield to your doc, keep reading…
How to Encrypt a PDF File on Mac Using Print Function
Step #1. Open the PDF file in the Preview app on your computer → File menu → Print.
Step #2. Now, click on the drop-down menu next to PDF and choose Save as PDF.
Step #3. Next, click on Security Options.
Windows 10 Password Protect Zip File
Step #4. Next up, you have multiple options. For instance, you can configure the doc to require the password when being opened.
Besides, you will also set it to ask for the password to copy text, images, and print. Configure the security as per your need. Then, click on OK.
Step #5. Next, if you wish to create a secondary file, tweak the name. But if you don’t want to create a new file, hit Save.
Step #6. In the end, click on Replace to confirm.
What About Removing Password Protection from Your PDF?
What if the protected files become pretty common later and you don’t need to safeguard them anymore? No problem! It’s just as straightforward to decrypt a PDF. To find out how it works, head over to this complete guide.
That’s pretty much it!
Want More Control Over Your PDFs?
If you want to have more control over your PDFs or wish to edit them with more flexibility, try out some of the best PDF editors for Mac. Apps like PDFelement and PDF Expert can prove to be a boon for your workflow. From letting you easily convert the file into various other formats to annotate them, they ensure you can manage your docs like a pro.
Wrapping Up…
So, whenever you think your project could fall into the wrong hands, do use a password to protect your PDFs to thwart the unauthorized access. As the process is painless and doesn’t require any third-party software, it can’t fit into your workflow.
You may also like to snap a look at these posts:
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The founder of iGeeksBlog, Dhvanesh, is an Apple aficionado, who cannot stand even a slight innuendo about Apple products. He dons the cap of editor-in-chief to make sure that articles match the quality standard before they are published.
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