Creating a ‘Digital Safe’: How To Make an Encrypted Folder in Mac OS X
You’re computer has just been stolen. Maybe you forgot your laptop on bus or perhaps your house has been burglarized. Either way, your computer is now gone and you need a costly replacement.
But that is only the beginning of your problems.
If you’re like most people, you keep sensitive information on your computer. That information, be it your bank passwords, your business documents, or perhaps your personal photographs are in the hands of a criminal.
“But,” you say. “I have a password on my screensaver, all my stuff is safe.” Unfortunately, breaking through a screensaver password is a trivial task. You are not safe – you are at serious risk for identity theft, business losses or personal embarrassment.
But there is a solution. On my computer I store all of my passwords and scans of vital documents such as my passport, financial information and birth certificate – and I never worry about what happens if I forget my laptop in Starbucks one day. How do I do this? I keep my documents in a digital safe.
A digital safe, known as an encrypted folder, is the way to store all your private stuff so you never have to worry again. An encrypted folder will hold all your information in such a way that a thief can never get access without the password. Here are the steps necessary to make an encrypted folder:
1) Open Disk Utility with Spotlight or Quicksilver or by going to Finder ? Applications ? Utilities ? Disk Utility.
2) This screen is the Disk Utility, it is the application we will use to make the encrypted folder.
3) Click on ‘New Image’ at the top.
4) Clicking ‘New Image’ brings up this window. Pick a location to save your encrypted folder. In this example, we’ll use the desktop.
5) In the ‘Save As’ box at the top, enter the name you want to give your encrypted folder.
6) Also put the name in the ‘Name’ box below.
7) Click on the ‘Size’ drop down box.
8) You need to decide the maximum size of stuff that you want your encrypted folder to hold. In this example, we’ll set it to 1GB
9) Click on the ‘Encryption’ drop down box.
10) Select ‘256-bit ASE encryption (more secure, but slower)’. Don’t worry, while it is slower, it’s still too fast for humans to notice the difference.
11) Lastly, click on the ‘Image Format’ drop down menu.
12) Select ‘sparse disk image’. A sparse disk image means that your encrypted folder can grow and shrink in size depending on the files that are inside it. If there’s nothing inside the encrypted folder, it will take up no room on your computer. You will be able to put files inside it until it hits the limit you set in step 8.
13) When done, the settings for your encrypted folder should look like the image below. Click ‘Create’
14) The Disk Utility Progress window will pop up for a few seconds.
15) Next, you need to pick a password for your encrypted folder, but before you do that:
16) THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT AND MOST EASILY OVERLOOKED STEP! You need to uncheck the box labeled ‘Remember password in my keychain’. If you leave that box checked, anyone who has access to your computer will be able to open the encrypted folder, without your password. Uncheck that box.
17) If you want to have the computer pick a secure password for you, click on the key icon.
18) This will bring up the Password Assistant. You can play around with the options until you get a password you are satisfied with.
19) Enter the password manually in the second box to confirm, then click ‘OK’.
20) Disk Utility Progress pops up again.
21) When it’s done, you will see your encrypted folder on the side of the Disk Utility. You can now close Disk Utility.
22) The new encrypted folder is sitting on the desktop.
23) Open Finder and you will see that your encrypted folder is open and empty.
24) Don’t put anything in just yet! Eject the encrypted folder by clicking on the eject icon next to its name.
25) Go to where you saved the encrypted folder, and double-click on it. Test that you actually know the password first before putting anything into it. If OS X doesn’t ask for a password, then you forgot to uncheck the tick box in step 16. If this is the case, delete the encrypted folder and start over.
26) Now you can put any files you want to keep private inside your encrypted folder.
27) Notice that, by default, the files are copied into the encrypted folder, not moved. You need to delete the copies that are outside of the encrypted folder.
28) If you want to really make sure they are gone, choose ‘Secure Empty Trash’ from the Finder.
29) Your files are now safely inside the encrypted folder. Once you eject it, it will be impossible for anyone without the password to access.
Now that you know how to make an encrypted folder, read the next article on what you should keep inside your encrypted folder to avoid getting your identity stolen.
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Why not using file vault?
While I love FileVault, for most users it’s not practical. It makes logging in and out of your system a long process and Time Machine isn’t fully compatible with it.
I fumbled around with how to do this for a long time by messing with the file settings. This article was well-written and very helpful. At long last, problem solved.
Thank you.