How To Create A Password Protected Folder On A Mac

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: Wednesday 26 March 2014

UPDATE: This is a popular topic and as such, I designed an Automator action that will do this work for you…

Just drag any folder onto this action and it will encrypt the folder and put the original in the trash can ready for you to securely delete!

You know who you are: a) your passwords are scribbled on a tattered and torn piece of paper right next to your computer; b) your spouse’s credit card number or social security number is on a post-it note next to the mouse; or c) you create a Christmas shopping list and save it on your desktop as “DO NOT READ.”

Save yourself the hassle of applying for a new social or ruining Christmas for everyone. You can create an encrypted, password protected folder on a mac without using any third-party software and it is done in just 5 easy steps – by creating an encrypted disk image.

1Open Disk Utility by navigating to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utilities.

2Choose File > New > Blank Disk Image or click the New Image icon.

3In the New Blank Image window that appears, name the new secure folder or “image.” Next, choose your desired size from the pop-up menu that is sufficient to hold your super-secret data. Then, from the Encryption pop-up menu choose 128-bit AES Encryption (secure enough for all of us and faster than 256-bit). Finally, choose either read/write or Sparse Disk Image from the Image Format pop-up menu and click Create.

A read/write disk image takes up a set amount of space on the drive, while a sparse image is a type of disk image file that grows in size as the user adds data, taking up only as much disk space as stored in it.

4At this point, you will be prompted for a password. Click one that is easy for you to remember, as a lost password means all the files on the image are lost too.

Remember to uncheck the ‘Remember Password in My Keychain’ option. Otherwise, anybody sitting down at your computer will have access to your image – which would defeat the purpose of this whole helpful article

Click OK and both the sparse image file and mounted image are created. This will look familiar to anyone who has put an external drive into their computer before.

5Double click the image to mount the “folder.” Drag the content that you want to protect into the mounted image. using the image

When you’re done with it, drag the mounted image to the trash to eject it or right-click it and choose “Eject.” When you next need it, double-click on the image file and enter its password when prompted.

With these 5 simple steps you can create a password protected folder on your mac. While this is an effective means of keeping data from the prying eyes of thieves or children, as explained above, it is far from secure as anyone can simply delete the image. If you really want to secure and protect data for your personal computer or business, call MacPro Services.