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    Password Protect a Folder in OS X Leopard?

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by codeoverride, Apr 18, 2008.

  1. codeoverride

    codeoverride Notebook Evangelist

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    Is there a way to password protect a folder in OS X Leopard? :confused:
     
    codeoverride, Apr 18, 2008
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  2. Budding

    Budding Notebook Virtuoso

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    The easiest way is probably to use Disk Utility and create an encrypted disk image and put your important folders in it.
     
    Budding, Apr 18, 2008
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  3. SwitchThreeSixty

    SwitchThreeSixty Notebook Enthusiast

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    Lamesecure
    does this nicely.
     
    SwitchThreeSixty, Apr 19, 2008
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  4. system_159

    system_159 Notebook Deity

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    I tried lamesecure, but it didn't do what I wanted it to do. It renames your folder into a .app which requires a password to enter.

    What I want in a folder password program is to keep the folder structure but require a password for a user to view it(like permissions, but don't even let somebody without permission into the folder). Anybody know of something like this?
     
    system_159, Apr 19, 2008
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  5. stealthsniper96

    stealthsniper96 What Was I Thinkin'?

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    Hidefolders might work.
     
    stealthsniper96, Apr 19, 2008
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  6. system_159

    system_159 Notebook Deity

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    Yeah, but hiding the folder causes a '.' to come before the folder name ie ".folder" so the path would change from "usr/documents/folder" to "usr/documents/.folder"

    I guess it's time for me to delve deeper into apple script and see if there's a way to make myself a folder locker.
     
    system_159, Apr 19, 2008
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  7. circa86

    circa86 Notebook Virtuoso NBR Reviewer

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    I really don't understand why they can't just have this be an option that you can set under the Info window of a file, folder, Application, whatever.

    This might be something worth sending to Apple Feedback, to see about the possibilities of this coming up in the future

    http://www.apple.com/feedback/
     
    circa86, Apr 19, 2008
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  8. Percybut

    Percybut Notebook Consultant

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    In OS X, anything in your home folder cannot be accessed by others. If you set a password for your account, then your whole home folder is password protected.

    Or you can create a new user account and give it a long password. Use "chown" to change the ownership of the folders you want to protect, and make them only accessible by that user account. This way, you have to know the password in order to access those folders.
     
    Percybut, Apr 19, 2008
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  9. kgeier82

    kgeier82 Notebook Deity

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    i use DMG files by disk utility. they save the file structure, and expand up to whatever you specify initially.

    cant beat that with a stick! and for backing them up with time machine, if you use the sparseimage type, it just backs up changed chunks! instead of copy the whole 40gb image, itll copy maybe 100mb of updated data, AWESOME APPLE! great job.
     
    kgeier82, Apr 19, 2008
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  10. Silv

    Silv Notebook Enthusiast

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    I use TrueCrypt to encrypt my whole home folder.

    http://www.truecrypt.org/

    Just gotta figure out a way to have it prompt me to mount the drives every time I boot the system.
     
    Silv, Apr 20, 2008
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