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Encrypt files on the Mac - this is how it works

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How to encrypt files on your Mac
1st step:
2nd step:
3rd step:
4th step:
5th step:
6th step:
7th step:
8th step:
9th step:
10th step:
quick start Guide

Do you want to encrypt folders with sensitive files on your Mac? Then follow our step-by-step instructions..

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If you have sensitive data stored on your Mac that you do not want everyone to see on your computer, you can encrypt the files and secure them with a password. To do this, you have to create an image of the data to be backed up and protect it with a password. We'll show you how to do this in the following:

How to encrypt files on your Mac

Follow our step-by-step instructions or take a look at the brief instructions .

1st step:

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First, create a folder with the files you want to protect in the Finder anywhere on your internal Mac hard drive . Unfortunately, folders cannot be encrypted on external hard drives. If necessary, copy the files from an external hard drive to your Mac, then follow these instructions and then move the encrypted file back to the hard drive.

2nd step:

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Then open on the Spotlight search the disk utility . To do this, click on the small magnifying glass in the menu bar at the top right and enter "Disk Utility" in the search field. When you confirm with [ Enter ], the hard disk utility opens.

3rd step:

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Now go to " File " in the menu bar and select " New Image " and then " Image from Folder ... " from the drop-down menu .

4th step:

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Select the previously created folder with the files to be backed up and then click on " Open ".

5th step:

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Now you can assign a name and a storage location to the image . In addition to the item " Encryption ", select " 256-bit AES encryption " in the menu .

6th step:

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You will now be asked to enter a password for the protected files. You can use this password to access the encrypted folder later. Confirm your entry with " Select ".

7th step:

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Next to "Image" you can choose how you want to access the files. Choose Compressed , which saves storage space but no longer allows you to edit; " Read only " so that nobody can edit the files; or " Read and Write " to be able to edit the files even after they have been encrypted. Then click on " Save ". Your files are now encrypted in what is known as an image.

8th step:

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You can find the encrypted image in the location you specified. You should now delete the original folder as it is not encrypted. Please note, however, that you cannot remove the encryption on the image again. So check that all files are completely there and that you really have access to them before deleting the original data. Make a double click on the created image to access the encrypted files.

9th step:

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To open the files, you have to enter the previously specified password and confirm with " OK ".

10th step:

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When you are no longer working with the encrypted files, you should definitely eject the image . Otherwise the data can be accessed without entering the password.

quick start Guide

  1. To secure files with a password, you must first move them to a folder . For the encryption to work, this folder must be on the internal hard drive of your Mac.
  2. Then open on the Spotlight search the disk utility .
  3. There you go to " File " in the menu bar , select " New Image " in the drop-down menu and finally click on " Image from folder ... ".
  4. Now find the folder to be encrypted in your files and click on " Open ".
  5. In the following window you can then give the image a name and specify a storage location . In addition to " Encryption ", select " 256-bit AES encryption " in the menu .
  6. Then enter a password with which your files should be protected and then click on " Select ".
  7. Then confirm your details with " Save ". The image of your sensitive data is then created.
  8. You will now find the image in the previously specified storage location . With a double click and enter the password you get to your files.
  9. If you no longer work with the files, you should always eject the image , otherwise unauthorized persons can gain access to the files without the password.

Note: You should definitely delete the original folder from which you created the image. This contains the files without encryption..


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