You may have sensitive files, like documents, images, videos, voice memos, that you want to defend against prying eyes when you share your computer with others or just add another layer of security to them. Mac provides you with a number of ways to password protect files and folders without the need for third-party tools. For example, you can password protect folder contents using the Disk Utility, a built-in utility on your Mac. When you want to send files securely to others, like your friends, family, or colleagues, you should also consider which software they use to decrypt or open the encrypted file. For instance, if your recipient is using a Windows computer, they won’t be able to access the password protected image file created with the Disk Utility on Mac. Here, we’ll show you how to password protect files, how to add a password to a folder using the free file protection software Encrypto on Mac. This file locker program is free, incredibly secure, fast, easy to use. Best of all, it is available for both Windows and Mac users, so you don’t have to worry about whether the recipient is on a Windows or Mac computer.
Launch the free file locker program on your Mac. Drag and drop files or folders from your desktop or hard drive to the file encryption app. Or you can click the down arrow or plus icon in the password protection software, then select the files or folders from your Mac to protect.
The second step is to setup password protection, create password hint.
Type in a strong password in the Password field and Password Hint below it. Then hit the Encrypt button to start encrypting the content you have added to the file safety program. The encryption process will begin. Encrypto can encrypt files and folders at blazing speeds. The encryption time varies depending on the file size, computer memory, processor power, drive speed. And it should take almost the same time to decrypt. Once the encryption completes, you will have the option to save the encrypted file in .crypto file on your local machine or send it to others.
Now you can go to delete the original file or folder from your hard disk so that the content is only available inside this password-protected file.
Decrypt the file
The recipient can download and install the free file security app from the previous linked page to open the encrypted file you sent to them along with the password you set above.