Password Protect Folder?

I've tried to password protect a folder using the disc image method available in the Lion operating system. It does not meet my needs because it does not appear to permit me to quickly and easily edit documents encrypted in the folder nor can I quickly add items to the protected folder. I do have my entire system protected with a password but I also need to have a folder or two that are protected with a separate password.

Is there a way to do this? If not, is there any software you all are aware of that does a good job with this sort of thing?

Mac OS and Windows are multi-user operating systems. Thus, you log into your own account and everything you touch within your user folder is protected at the filesystem level and kept exclusive to you. This is why there is no mechanism built into the OS that allows you to password protect folders - this is handled with permissions at the filesystem itself.

Now, if there is another user that is an administrator, they could certain get into your files. But if you are the only administrator and the documents won't leave your machine, then you don't need to password protect at the folder level.

Mac OS X's encryption works a little differently and is useful under conditions where the document must move off your system and continue to be secure or must be kept secure from other users on the same system, regardless of their privilege level.

Create a new Disk Image in Disk Utility and choose for it to be encrypted. Enter your password when prompted. Now, each time the resulting disk image is mounted, it will prompt you for your password. But during that session that the disk is mounted, you can indeed quickly add new items or edit the files stored on the virtual encrypted disk.

Hmmm. Let me try this again. If the last sentence of your post is correct that I'll be fine with it. I was not able to edit files in the encrypted folder or add new files without going through the encryption process all over again. I'll give it another look.

As to the first part of your post - yes I am aware of that - but as I indicated in my OP I need to have a folder or two separately protected.

I just gave this a try again using the operating system. I created an encrypted disk image of a new folder that has a single word document. I opened the new disk image using the password, opened the document, edited the document, and tried to save the edited document into the same folder. I was not able to save the edited document in that fashion. Next I tried to copy and paste a different file - a pdf file, from one of my non -encrypted folders into the encrypted folder. No luck.

Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks for the help with this.

I'm not sure why you're having this issue, but I'll tell you what I did and hopefully this will give you some insight into how the process works.

1. Open Disk Utility and click the New Disk Image button
2. During the New Disk Image creation process, you should be able to choose both encryption level and whether the disk image is read/write:



3. Once the disk image creation is complete, it should create a new DMG file in the folder you specified
4. Open the DMG file. This is like inserting a disc into your drive, so you'll see it pop up as a new drive on the desktop.
5. Save a file to the drive
6. Open the file and make some changes. You should be able to save them.
7. Eject the disk by dragging it to the trash
8. The DMG file is secure. If you try to open it from another account, you should be prompted with a password. If you open it from your own account, it should open and mount with no problem and still be able to be read and written to.

Ahhh - it might be the read/write choice - I'll give it a try.

I see. It is not achieving what I am looking for. I want to have a folder that is separately password protected when using my own account. This might work but I would have to remember to dismount when I am done using the image - correct? If I did not dismount anyone coming along and using my computer would be able to get access to the folder - correct? Might work - but not really perfect.

Is there software that would work do you know?

None that I'm familiar with. But you can easily lock your computer or log out when you're done using it, using several different methods:

How to Lock Your Mac OS X Display When You’re Away - How-To Geek

Thanks for that link. Sometimes you can't do the thing you want to do in the way you want to do it and that is just the way life is. I'll figure out a work around.

Again, thanks for helping me.

cwa107 said:

I'm not sure why you're having this issue, but I'll tell you what I did and hopefully this will give you some insight into how the process works.

Click to expand...

Hate to ask you this (A bit off topic) but I really like your icons - where did you get them?

madwolfe said:

Hate to ask you this (A bit off topic) but I really like your icons - where did you get them?

Click to expand...

I didn't really customize any of them except for the Downloads icon. Otherwise, all the icons you see in the screen shot are just the default Lion icons.

There are 2 programs I know of that will also do what you want. MacHider from macaw.com and Hide Folders from altomic.com

I got Espionage back in the day with some bundle. Seemed to work pretty well for encrypting single files/folders. Haven't used it in a while and they are on to two.
Tao Effect :: Espionage :: Secure Folder Encryption for Mac OS X

I think you will find that TrueCrypt will do exactly what you are wanting, I use it for a similar purpose.

cwa107 said:

Now, if there is another user that is an administrator, they could certain get into your files.

Click to expand...

This isn't correct. Each user folder is "locked off" from the other users even if those other users are administrators. You would have to invoke root user to examine the contents of another user's home folder and its contents

chas_m said:

This isn't correct. Each user folder is "locked off" from the other users even if those other users are administrators. You would have to invoke root user to examine the contents of another user's home folder and its contents

Click to expand...

I stand corrected. I'm accustomed to being able to take ownership of another user's files in Windows. I assume OS X doesn't allow this kind of an operation?

cwa107 said:

I stand corrected. I'm accustomed to being able to take ownership of another user's files in Windows. I assume OS X doesn't allow this kind of an operation?

Click to expand...

It does - but as chas_m said - you need to have root access to view and change permissions on file - not just Administrator.
Enabling and using the "root" user in Mac OS X

That being said - an Administrator with sudo can peer into directories and do file operations. It seems cumbersome but I can see into another admin's directories with a sudo ls - so I can do a sudo chmod to change file permissions as well. (or any other file operation for that matter)

cwa107 said:

I didn't really customize any of them except for the Downloads icon. Otherwise, all the icons you see in the screen shot are just the default Lion icons.

Click to expand...

Well there you go, thanks for that. They are much more sleek than the Snow Leopard ones