How to Password Protect a Folder on Mac: A Step-by-Step Guide

Protecting private or sensitive information from the outside world has been a trend since cyberhacking is so frequent. More or less, we all have to use laptops for various purposes. The trick of keeping some private things this way is we need some cyber tips to ensure the security of our information. How to Password Protect a Folder on Mac?

Privacy encroachment, in the world of artificial intelligence, is actually quite easy with some intelligent minds working with some negativity to leak some information. That is how we feel the need to secure all the data that we have on our laptops. 

But how do we do it? Since it is going to be about Mac, we must say that it has some different settings. 

We at howtowiki.net will now reveal how to secure a folder on your Mac laptop. This is going to be a tutorial so brace yourself. Don’t worry! This is nothing to be worried about. 

Instructions to Secure Your Folder With Password on Mac

If you have a Mac laptop, then you have got the best one for sure. And using them is not going to be a problem. Navigating the Mac system and securing a folder doesn’t need any new software that you may have to buy otherwise. Impressed already? Wait till you go through the entire step-by-step instructions. 

Mac Utility App is extremely helpful for the same purpose, but even without that, you can protect a folder. So, there are basically two ways and let us highlight both the processes. 

• First, we would go with the Utility App that you would find on your Mac. Even before that, you need to create a folder and contain whatever sensitive data you wish to protect.

• The next step is to find the Utility App and search for it through some shortcuts. You have to press Command and Space Bar one after another. This will open the Spotlight Search option. Then you have to write Disk Utility to get it. Once you have found it, just press to proceed.

• Now select the File option from the menu bar (upper one), and then press the New Image option, and then select Image From Folder.

• You have to select the folder that you are supposed to secure. After choosing that one, you have to click choose and proceed. In the meantime, if you need to change the name of the folder, you can do that as well. 
• Now, you can see a window to be open that will showcase the Encryption Menu, and along with that, there will be image format options.
• The next step includes choosing the Encryption options like 256-bit AES encryption or 128-bit AES encryption (Whichever you prefer). 
• Once you are done with the Encryption selection, a new window will come or rather pop. That window is all about setting a new password. The ideal password is that one, which has around 8 characters, combining both upper and lower cases, special characters, and numerics. However, you can combine all of them together, but try to provide something unique and not too obvious.
• After you give your desired password, there will be a drop-down-like feature saying verify. You have to write your created password once again so that the machine can register it. Afterward, you have to choose the given option. 
•  Now, from the Image Format section, you may choose Read/Write, to edit the folder’s content, if you want to of course. 
• Then you choose the Save button and give some time to your system to create the folder that is entirely password-protected. After a while, to exit from the entire set, click on the Done button. 

This is the most common method to Protect a Folder on Mac. If you have to send it with all its protection intact and especially to someone who doesn’t have a Mac, then you may have to follow a different method. This is important because the email source or platform may not be trusted all time.

This is called the Terminal method, and for that, you need to follow these steps.

• Activate the Spotlight Search by pressing Command and Space Bar, one after another. Write Terminal on the search option. 
• Now, you click the folder that you wish to protect and then Control-click it.
• You have to choose the Get Info option.
• Now, you have to explore the General section.
• You have to choose the Where section and then Control-click, and when it comes to choosing the pathname option, you have to select the Copy option. 
• Now it’s time to get back to the Terminal Utility, and then type cd and then click space.
• You have to paste the pathname and then click Enter.
• Then comes some typing, where you need to write zip -er and then give the final zip file and name of the folder.

Conclusion: 

You are done with two instructions, and now you know how to do it. Knowledge is a great thing, and when it comes to securing your things on MacBook, nothing comes closer.