Mac OS has the ability to hide folders and files, just like other operating systems. But Mac OS X hides these options and does not allow you to do this as easily as on Windows or Linux. To hide a file or folder, you will have to set the “hidden” attribute for it. Finder and others Mac apps will not display this file or folder by default.
Hide a folder or file
Instead of hiding separate file(although you can do that too), you can create a hidden folder. For the example we'll do this, this trick will also work to hide individual files.
Firstly, open a terminal window – Press Ctrl + Space, write Terminal and press Enter. In a terminal, enter the following command, including the space at the end of it:
chflags hidden
Drag the folder into the terminal window
The path to the file or folder will appear in the terminal. Press Enter to run the command and the file or folder will disappear. Finder won't show it by default.
Access hidden files or folders
How to access a hidden folder from Finder? The easiest way is to click on the menu Go in Finder and select Go to folder.
Type the folder path in the dialog box and press Go or Enter. ~
Means custom folder, so if you have a folder named SecretStuff on your desktop, you need to enter ~/Desktop/SecretStuff. If this were in the documents, you need to enter ~/Documents/SecretStuff. Don't worry about the fact that the folder is hidden and won't show up normally in Finder, you can quickly access it from this path. Any files you store in this folder are effectively hidden and no one can accidentally see them, but they will appear in the Finder if you navigate to this directory in the manner described.
Show hidden files and folders in Open/Dialogue
The enable option is graphical - you must enable it using a terminal command and restart Finder for the changes to take effect. To view hidden files in Finder, open a Terminal window and run the following commands in it, pressing ENTER after each one:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
This command tells Finder to show hidden files and then launches it. This will show all hidden files and folders. They appear partially transparent to distinguish hidden files and folders from regular ones that are not hidden.
Want Finder to stop showing hidden files and folders? Run the following command to disable this option and restart Finder:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE
Killall Finder
Do visible files or folders
Do you want files or folders to be displayed? Run the same command as before, just change “hidden” to “nohidden.” In other words, enter the following command in the terminal, followed by a space:
chflags nohidden
If you remember the exact path to the file or folder, you can enter it into the terminal. If you don't remember, you can use the above trick to show hidden files and folders in Finder and drag the hidden file or folder into the Terminal as you did before.
(You can also press the up arrow key in the terminal and get the command you entered earlier. Use the left arrow key to navigate to “hidden” and change it to “nohidden”, then press Enter.)
“Only for me” - don't you want to add such a comment in the folders on your Mac OS X?
If you are looking for similar answers, then continue reading the following information. There are many files and folders that contain valuable information that you would not want to share. You may sometimes store important data on your work Mac or copy some personal photos. Because of this, you begin to wonder how to password protect folders on Mac OS X.
Is there a way to protect folders with a password?
You can password protect folders on a Mac using a tool available in the operating system.
Step 1
You should go to Finder ---> Applications ---> Utilities ---> Disk Utility. Then you need to click on the file ---> New ---> Empty disk image. Here you must enter a name for the image, and then click on the “save as” button.
Step 2
You must select 128-bit or 256-bit encryption. If you need speed, choose 128-bit encryption, and if you want increased security, then 256-bit is the best option. You will see the image format below read/write. This will help you read and also add new files in the future.
Step 3
After selecting the encryption fields, you must click on the “create” button. Disk Utility will begin creating images and will ask you for a password. You need to enter the password twice and remember it in the future.
Step 4
After clicking the OK button, the utility will begin creating a disk image. This will be a password protected image and you must double click on it. Now all you need to do is drag files and folders into the disk image. Thus, until a person enters the password, he will no longer be able to access the confidential data.
If you need to add new files, you must create an image that can hold up to 5 GB of data. You can create a folder with more space by returning to Disk Utility. K File ---> New ---> Black disk image. In the new window that opens, select 256-bit encryption and click the “create” button and enter a name. Every time someone tries to open the folder, they will be prompted to enter a password. Thus, until the password is entered correctly, no one can view your data. “Only for me” - don't you want to add such a comment in the folders on your Mac OS X?
"Just for me" - wouldn't you want to add a comment like that in folders on your Mac OS X?
Is there a way to protect folders with a password?
You can password protect folders on Mac using the tool available in the operating system.
You should go to Finder ---> Applications ---> Utilities ---> Disk Utility. Then you need to click on file ---> New ---> Blank disk image. Here you must enter a name for the image and then click on the "Save As" button.
You must choose 128-bit or 256-bit encryption. If you need speed, choose 128-bit encryption, and if you want increased security, then 256 bits is the best option. You will see the image format below read/write. This will help you read as well as add new files in the future.
After selecting the encryption fields, you must click on the “Create” button. Disk Utility will begin to create images and ask you to enter a password. You need to enter the password twice and remember it in the future.
After clicking OK, the utility will begin creating a disk image. This will be a password protected image and you must double click on it. Now all you need to do is drag and drop files and folders into the disk image. Thus, unless a person enters a password, he will no longer be able to access sensitive data.
If you need to add new files, you need to create an image that can hold up to 5 GB of data. You can create a folder with more space by returning to Disk Utility. Go to File ---> New ---> Black disk image. In the new window that opens, select 256-bit encryption and click the “Create” button and enter a name. Whenever someone tries to open the folder, they will be prompted for a password. This way, unless the password is entered correctly, no one can view your data.
Protecting information or how to put a password on a folder in Mac OS X - necessary information for those who have something to store. This could be text or a password, a video file or folders with files that need to be protected from unauthorized access. To do this, Mac OSX provides the ability to set a password for folders with files and create text documents with password protection. First of all, we will talk about how to set a password for a folder in Mac OS, with the ability to add any files and documents.
In this case, the folder with the password will be a password-protected disk image. When you double-click, the password is entered in the window that appears, then the disk is “mounted” and appears on the desktop and on the left side of the Finder window. The folder (disk) size is set when it is created. To finish working with a password-protected folder, drag it to the Trash or on the left side of any Finder window, click on the arrow that appears next to the icon of the mounted disk. The information is closed until the next password is entered. The password cannot be recovered.
To create a mountable image, use the program Disk Utility(search through or drive C - Programs - Utilities - Disk Utility). The main functionality of the utility is working with hard drives and images, but in this moment a mounted image is created.
Select " New look"...
We set any required size ourselves desired folder, in point "Encryption" choose 128-bit AES and press "Create". The image (folder) receives the extension *.dmg. This folder is installed exclusively on Mac computers OS X, but copes with its main task with a solid five.
The next method will be about creating a text editor in Mac OS with password access. In this case, run the program "A bunch of keys"(search through or disk C - Programs - Utilities - Keychain).
This is a collection of passwords, electronic keys, web certificates, etc., with the ability to create notes. Add new file and copy the desired text into the note, close it and everything is protected. The password is set on the program itself automatically. That is, the administrator password for your account is valid.
Another way to restrict access to a folder simpler option with a password-protected image, but it will also help only from children or a novice Macintosh user. Open the folder properties (right mouse/trackpad button - properties or tap with two fingers on the trackpad and select properties.
At the very bottom of the window that opens, set access rights to the folder “Write only ( Mailbox)" and close the properties.
Now any computer user, when accessing a folder, will see a window indicating that they do not have rights to access the folder. At the same time, the folder easily accepts files. You can remove the restriction there, in the properties, by setting the access rights back to “Read and Write”.
It is quite enough to store everything you need from prying eyes. But at the same time, special attention must be paid to the passwords themselves, because, according to legend, only the Chinese were able to crack them, using a very powerful and expensive computer.
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Told about three free ways encrypt files and folders on macOS. Use it when you need to hide some photos or videos from prying eyes.
Encryption is the most reliable way to protect sensitive information. Encrypted files and folders cannot be opened or viewed without entering a password.
Now I will tell you about three ways to encrypt any photos, videos or documents:
- Creating encrypted folders through macOS Disk Utility;
- Creating an encrypted USB flash drive;
- Encrypt any files and folders using the Encrypto utility.
What is file encryption
Encryption is the conversion of a file using a specific algorithm. Such a file cannot be opened and viewed until you enter the decryption key. In our case the key is normal password, which you come up with when encrypting the file.
1. How to put a password on a folder
You can encrypt folders using standard macOS tools. For this:
- Click File ▸ New image ▸ Image from folder... and select the folder you want to put a password on;
Creating an encrypted image (folder) through macOS Disk Utility - In the window that appears, specify the encryption algorithm 256 bit AES, as well as the image format Read/Write. The latter is necessary so that in the future you can add or remove files from the encrypted folder.
When you select an encryption algorithm, you will also be asked to enter a password.
Be sure to select “read/write” when creating the encrypted image. This way you can add new files to it - After a few seconds, the encrypted folder with the .dmg extension will appear next to the original folder. Double clicking on it will open a window for entering your password. And after entering it, it will mount the folder on the Desktop in the form of an external drive.
After entering the password, the encrypted image is mounted as an external drive - To add new files to an encrypted folder, click on it, enter the password, and then drag it into it necessary files. After that, click on the image right click, and then "Extract".
You can add any files to the encrypted image The advantage of this method is that encryption occurs through standard features macOS, so you can easily open your files on any other computer.
Please note that the protected folder does not replace the original one. Therefore, do not forget to delete the original and empty the trash. If you use the services Reserve copy like Time Machine, make sure you delete unencrypted files there too.
2. How to put a password on a flash drive
Sometimes you not only need to encrypt files, but also remove them away from your computer. In this case, it is more convenient to make an encrypted flash drive that will ask you to enter a password every time you connect to your Mac.
For this we also need Disk Utility:
- Open Programs ▸ Utilities ▸ Disk Utility;
- Select your drive on the right and click Erase;
- In chapter Format select APFS (encrypted);
- Enter the disk encryption password.
Create an encrypted USB flash drive using macOS Disk Utility An encrypted flash drive works exactly the same as a regular one, you just need to enter a password every time you connect it to your computer. If you accidentally lose such a flash drive, no one without a password will be able to view the contents.
3. How to put a password on a file or folder using Encrypto
Encrypting files using Encrypto is more convenient than using Disk Utility.
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You've probably noticed more than once that you can't see hidden files in the Finder on your Mac. It doesn’t matter which operating system is installed on your computer - Mac OS, Windows or Linux, each of them has its own hidden folders and files, and creates new ones in the process.
If in the same Windows it is enough to check the box in the settings to show them, then enable showing hidden files in Mac OS a little more complicated. But after reading our instructions, viewing hidden files and folders on Mac will not be any problem for you. So, how do you enable hidden files on Mac OS? Very simple!
UPDATE: If you have Mac OS Sierra or later, just use the keyboard shortcut "shift+cmd+.".
If this doesn't work, then you are using Mac OS El Capitan or higher old version OS X, then the instructions below will help you.
Typically, hidden folders and files are system ones and are necessary for the normal functioning of the computer’s operating system, that is, they should not be changed or deleted. However, there are exceptions everywhere, and sometimes you need to access a file that you don’t even see in the Finder, for example.htaccess for webmasters. All files whose names begin with a dot are hidden by default in Mac OS.
Some hidden files and folders are needed for the OS to work, and some are created operating system to speed up the processing and delivery of information to the user - they store information about how to display a particular folder and sort the files in it; reduced copies of photos (thumbs) for quick rendering, etc.
If for some reason you need to show hidden files in the Finder, here's an easy way to do it through the Terminal on Mac OS.
1. Open the Terminal program
First you need to open the program "Terminal", which is installed by default on every computer running Mac OS. To do this, in the Dock panel (the panel with programs, which is usually located at the bottom of the screen), open Finder (always the leftmost icon) and select “Programs” from the menu on the left. In the list of installed programs that appears, find the program "Terminal.app" and run it (there are other ways).
By the way, open any installed program much more is possible in a simple way- press buttons Ctrl + space and start typing the program name in the pop-up window. Doing this is much faster than searching the right application in the programs folder.
2. Turn on showing hidden files and folders
This item will be the last one if you only need to show hidden files and folders in Mac OS and leave everything like that. To do this, copy the following code
defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles YES
and paste it into the previously opened Terminal window using the keyboard shortcut cmd+V and press Enter. We recently talked about how to copy and paste text on Mac OS.
If you want to make one specific file/folder hidden, or vice versa, open, it will help you.
Attention! Be careful when changing or deleting hidden files - they are hidden from the average user for a reason. Most of them affect performance Mac systems OS, so you should only change them if you are sure of what you are doing and why.
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