Password Protect Folders Mac App

08.09.2020by

Dec 14, 2016  How to password protect files and folders in macOS (OSX) Jon Watson. @lahmstache December 14, 2016. There are times when you want some extra protection for your documents on your Mac. Even if your computer is password protected, there may be situations when someone else has to use it and you’d prefer to limit their access to your personal.

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.

Dropbox makes it easy to password protect PDFs and other files without the need for third-party software. Before you share a link to a PDF, Word Doc, or other file or folder in your Dropbox account, just set a password for the link so the recipient can only open it with the password you set. If you’re a Dropbox Business user, you can limit who has access to the sensitive files you password. May 08, 2020  Step 2: Locate the folder you wish to password protect within the main 7-Zip interface and click the green addition sign in the upper-left corner of the application. Alternatively, drag and drop. If you want to password protect folder on Mac without Disk Utility and you are not comfortable with Terminal, there are third-party apps that can help, such as Encrypto and MacFort. Here we will take the latter as an example. MacFort is a competitive and wonderful tool that gives you the ability to password protect folders and files on Mac. ★One of the most preferred file locking software on play store ★ The improved version of Folder Lock is an Android application that works to satisfy the needs of the security conscious users. Folder Lock provides much-needed features like password protection of photos and videos, secured wallets, data recovery, decoy mode, stealth mode, hack attempt monitoring and more!

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.

This article has two parts: (1) how to lock a folder (2) how to lock a file

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.

Password Protect Folders Mac App Windows 10

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

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.

Although Windows 10 doesn't have an option to protect folders and files with a password, it doesn't mean that you're data isn't secure. One of the reasons why you can't set a password to a folder is because your account is already protected from unauthorized access with a password and even encryption if you use BitLocker to encrypt your entire device.

However, if you have precious family and friends photos, bank information, and other business documents that you feel would be more secure using a password, you can use a combination of a virtual hard disk and BitLocker to password protect folders and files on your computer. And all without the need for third-party tools or complicated scripts, which are probably not as secure as using the Windows 10 built-in encryption feature.

In this Windows 10 guide, we'll walk you through the steps to protect a folder with a password using a virtual hard disk and BitLocker available with the professional version of the OS.

Password protect folders mac app windows 10

How to protect a folder with password on Windows 10

Although Windows 10 doesn't include an option to add a password to a folder, you can set up a virtual disk with BitLocker, which gives you the ability to mimic the same password protection experience and extra security without complicated steps.

Creating a virtual hard disk

To create a virtual hard disk on Windows 10, use these steps:

  1. Open Start.
  2. Search for Disk Management and click the top result to open the app.
  3. Click the Action menu.

  4. Click the Create VHD option.

  5. Click the Browse button to select a location to store the virtual disk.

  6. Specify a name for the drive. For example, folder_vault.

  7. Click the Save button.
  8. Under the 'Virtual hard disk size' section, specify the amount of space that you want to reserve for storage. For example, 8GB, but you can use any amount based on the content that you want to protect.
  9. (Optional) Under the 'Virtual hard disk format' section, select the VHDX option.

  10. Select the Dynamically expanding option so the storage will only grow as you save files.

  11. Click the OK button.

  12. Right-click the 'Disk x,' and select the Initialize Disk option.

  13. Check the new Disk x.

  14. Select the MBR (Master Boot Record) option.

  15. Click the OK button.

  16. Right-click the 'Unallocated space,' and select the New Simple Volume option.

  17. Click the Next button.

  18. Use the default settings for the volume size.

  19. Click the Next button.

  20. Use the 'Assign the following drive letter' drop-down menu to select a letter for the new drive.

  21. Click the Next button.
  22. Use the 'File system' drop-down menu, and select the NTFS option.
  23. Use the 'Allocation unit size' drop-down menu, and select the Default option.
  24. In the 'Value label' field, type a descriptive name for the drive. For example, folder_vault.

  25. Check the Perform a quick format option.

  26. Unless necessary, clear the Enable file and folder compression option.
  27. Click the Next button.
  28. Click the Finish button.

Once you complete the steps, you'll end up with a virtual hard disk that you can treat as a folder and password protect using BitLocker.

Enabling BitLocker on a virtual hard disk

To set up BitLocker on a virtual hard disk on Windows 10, use these steps:

  1. Open Control Panel.
  2. Click on System and Security.
  3. Click on BitLocker Drive Encryption.
  4. Under the 'Fixed data drives' section, select the folder_vault drive.

  5. Click the Turn on BitLocker option.

  6. Check the Use a password to unlock the drive option.

  7. Create a password to protect your folders inside the drive.
  8. Click the Next button.

  9. Click the Save to a file button.

  10. Select a location to store the recovery key.

    Quick tip: If you forget the password or lose the recovery key, you won't be able to recover your files, so make sure to keep this file in a secure place.

  11. Click the Save button.
  12. Click the Next button.

  13. Select the Encrypt used disk space only option. Handbrake for mac 2019.

  14. Click the Next button.

  15. Select the Compatibility mode option.

  16. Click the Next button.

  17. Click the Start encryption button.

  18. Click the Close button once the encryption has finished.

After you complete the steps, you can begin using the virtual disk as a folder to protect your content with a password.

Locking and unlocking folder with password

Once you created a virtual drive and configured BitLocker, you'll need to know a few steps to lock and unlock your files and folders.

Unlock folders with password

To access folders and files protected with a password on Windows 10, use these steps:

  1. Open File Explorer.

  2. Browse to the folder with the folder_vault.vhd file.

  3. Double-click the VHD (VHDX) file to mount it to File Explorer.

    Quick note: If you receive a 'is not accessible' and 'Access is denied' message, this is normal behavior because you mounted the drive, but you haven't unlocked it with the password yet.

  4. Click on This PC from the left pane.

  5. Under the 'Devices and drives' section, double-click the drive to open the sign-in page.

  6. Type the password to unlock the drive with your important files and folders.

    Quick tip: If you can't remember the password, click the More options link, click the Enter recovery key option, and type the 48-digit recovery key available in the text file that you should have saved when setting up BitLocker on the virtual hard disk.

  7. Click the Unlock button.

Once you complete the steps, you will be able to access your important files and folders.

Lock folders with password

When you no longer need to access your files, use these steps to lock the drive:

  1. Open File Explorer.
  2. Click on This PC from the left pane.

  3. Under the 'Devices and drives' section, right-click the BitLocker drive, and select the Eject option.

After you complete the steps, the folders will remain encrypted and protected using the BitLocker password. The next time that you need to access those important files and folders, you'll need to follow the unlock instructions, which include entering the password again.

The best part about using a virtual hard disk with BitLocker to add a password to a folder is that you can continue to unlock your files on the same or different computer using the above steps.

More Windows 10 resources

For more helpful articles, coverage, and answers to common questions about Windows 10, visit the following resources:

Password Protect Zip Folder Mac App

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