Work from home has enabled a new workflow for the majority of folks. No working directly with co-workers and take coffee breaks in the office. Also, sharing sensitive documents and passing files among employees online has become a bit stressful. After all, you won’t want any third-party to get access to the latest quarterly earnings, sales report, or your hard-earned client lists. For security, add a layer of authentication on PDF files you share in Slack, Zoom, or Skype.
- How To Password Protect A File
- Folder Password Protect For Mac Catalina
- Putting A Password On A Folder
Hold 'Control' and click the file or folder you plan to password protect. This is Apple's equivalent to. Password-protect a Pages document on Mac. Choose File Set Password (from the File menu at the top of your screen), enter the requested information, then click Set Password. If your computer isn’t set up for Touch ID, “Remember this password in my keychain” appears. How to Password Protect a Folder on macOS 10.15. The following are just some of the ways to protect a folder in Mac: Method 1. Turning Folders into Protected Disk Images. Follow these simple steps to use this in-built feature to protect folders in Mac: Step 1: Open the Applications folder. You can do that using 'Command + Shift + A'. Reader James McCormick desires a way to password protect multiple files at one go. He writes: Is there a way to password protect a folder that holds Word or Excel files?
One can upload the PDF file to OneDrive and add an expiry time to a shared weblink. Or even better, you can add a password and limit the PDF access to a specific group of people.
Windows and macOS offer native options to password protect PDF. If you are not happy with the built-in solution, then you can always opt for a third-party app from the web. Let’s get started with Mac.
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Read MoreHow to Password Protect a PDF on Mac
macOS offers a capable built-in PDF solution with basic editing. Go through the steps below to add a password to PDF on Mac.
Step 1: Open PDF on Mac using the default preview.
Step 2: Tap on File in the menu bar.
Step 3: Select Export and choose PDF as the format from the following menu.
Step 4: Enable Encrypt for the file and add the Password with verification.
Select the export location and hit Save at the bottom. Now send the PDF file with others and the recipients must use the password to open the PDF file.
Use a Third-Party Solution
Both Windows and macOS are filled with excellent third-party PDF editing apps. All these PDF editing apps offer extra functions such as notes, highlighter, annotation, stamps, signature, and more.
While the Mac ecosystem has capable PDF editing apps, PDF expert came on top in our testing. We will use PDF Expert to secure a PDF file with a password on Mac.
Step 1: Download and install PDF Expert on Mac.
Download PDF Expert for MacStep 2: Open a PDF file using the PDF Expert software.
Step 3: Make necessary changes using all the features.
Step 4: When you are done editing the PDF file, then tap on the File in the Menu bar.
Step 5: Select Set Password.
Step 6: Add Password and verify your decision.
Go back to the original File location on Mac, and you will see the locked PDF file. After that, anyone who wants to access the file will need a password to glance at the content.
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Read MoreHow to Password Protect a PDF on Windows
Many users aren’t familiar with this trick. On Windows, you can simply drag and drop a PDF in Microsoft Word to make changes. We will use Microsoft Word on Windows to add a password to PDF. Go through the steps below to complete the action.
Step 1: Open File Manager on your Windows laptop/PC.
Step 2: Open the Microsoft Word app. Resize the application window and simply drag and drop PDF from the File Manager to Word.
Step 3: Word will automatically convert the PDF file into an editable interface. Make the necessary changes.
Step 4: Now tap on the File in the Menu bar. Go to Export and select Create PDF.
Step 5: Select the Export location and tap on the Options at the bottom.
Step 6: Enable Encrypt with Password, and it will ask you to add a password to protect PDF.
Use a Third-Party Tool
Microsoft Word on PC does require Microsoft 365 subscription to use the PDF functionality. If you are looking for a dedicated PDF editor on Windows, I would advise you to opt for Small PDF.
Two reasons for that. First, it’s web-based, so you don’t have to go through a standard software installation process.
Note: We strongly recommend you to avoid using web-based tools for PDF files containing sensitive information.Second, you can purchase the subscription and use the service on other platforms such as Mac, Linux, and Chrome OS because it's web-based. Now, go through the steps below.
Step 1: Open to Small PDF site in the web browser.
Visit Small PDFStep 2: Scroll down to the bottom, and you will see the Protect PDF option.
Step 3: Tap on it. Import the PDF file from the File manager.
Step 4: Add a password for PDF and confirm the password again.
Step 5: Select Encrypt PDF and download the file from the following menu.
You can also use the email link to email the file to your colleague directly. If you are not happy with Small PDF, you can always try the traditional PDF Editors such as PDFElements, Adobe Acrobat, or Foxit PDF.
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#security
Click here to see our security articles pageSecure PDF Files
It’s essential to lock confidential PDF files from others. While both Windows and Mac offer native solutions to add passwords to PDF, you can always opt for a dedicated PDF editor to unlock more functions. Which solution are you going to choose? Sound off in the comments section below.
Next up:Are you getting confused between PDF Expert and Adobe Acrobat on Mac? Read the post below to clear out your confusion.
The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.Read NextPDF Expert vs Adobe Acrobat: Which PDF Editor Is Better on Mac
![Dropbox folder password protect mac Dropbox folder password protect mac](/uploads/1/2/8/1/128194294/436114600.jpg)
Did You Know
Rootkits are a type of Trojan horse and are designed to conceal certain objects in your system.
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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.
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.
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. Abrmate. 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
How To Password Protect A File
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
Folder Password Protect For Mac Catalina
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.
Putting A Password On A Folder
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.