Protect folder on iCloud - am I the only one....?!

[GE90]

Hi

Surely I cannot be the only one with this issue......

Basically, we have a shared family Macbook, with folder on iCloud. All works really well. However, I store health filing in a folder, which I should probably keep from inquisitive teenagers having a rummage around!

I thought I could simply password protect the folder, but it seems that this cannot be done.

Any thoughts?

[CharlesElliott]

iCloud doesn't support this. If you share your iCloud then everything is shared.

[Carbon Sasquatch]

Even. If you share the same physical device, you can have individual accounts / logins on a MacBook. Each one can have its own iCloud account.

[jesusbuiltmycar]

I use an app called Cryptomator to do this - it creates encrypted folders using a password of your choice. I can access folders using the app on my macs and iPhone and it all works very weell,

The only downside is that I cannot add tags to files stored in the. Encrypted folder.

The MacOS app is free - the iPhone version is a one time payment,

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/cryptomator/id953086...

[GE90]

Thanks very much.

Sorry, not certain how this works, but am I there at the mercy of the app to access my files? What if app has issues, or goes bust! Thanks again.

[vaud]

Just create a personal gmail account and store it there?

[GE90]

Good idea, but I use the Files App on my phone to scan and save medical correspondence to my folders......

Cheers

[vaud]

GE90 said:

Good idea, but I use the Files App on my phone to scan and save medical correspondence to my folders......

Cheers

You can still upload to Google Drive in a few clicks from the Google drive app:

https://support.google.com/drive/answer/2424368?co...

[DanL]

Store them in a zip file with a password? I assume this works on a Mac, I’m a PC person...

[mmm-five]

DanL said:

Store them in a zip file with a password? I assume this works on a Mac, I’m a PC person...

^^^ THIS ^^^

You can do this for free with the built-in archive tool - but you'd have to be comfortable using Terminal to make it password-protected.

If you want an all-in-one simpler solution, then a you can use something like WinZip Mac (£30 after trial) or BetterZip (@25 after trial) or Keka (£3.99) to do the job.

Alternatively - and what I use for larger items - is to use Apple Disk Utility to create a small disk image that you can encrypt/password protect, and then use that for your confidential storage.

The only issue you have with any of these options - over something like Dropbox or Onedrive - is you can't stop another member of the family from deleting the file/folder - and most of these security features collapse if you're all using a single sing-on/account.

Edited by mmm-five on Friday 2nd April 11:08

[megaphone]

I've never understood why you cannot (easily) password lock a folder or file. I have my banking statements etc that I would like to lock in a folder, but it's not possible.(as far as I know)

Same with the Keychain, I'd use it more if I could set-up another separate strong password rather than it relying on my short account log-in.

[mmm-five]

megaphone said:

I've never understood why you cannot (easily) password lock a folder or file. I have my banking statements etc that I would like to lock in a folder, but it's not possible.(as far as I know)

Same with the Keychain, I'd use it more if I could set-up another separate strong password rather than it relying on my short account log-in.

I don't know why the built-in Archive Utility doesn't provide a GUI for password-protecting/encrypting archives though!

For a long time, it was StuffIt that I'd use for archiving/protecting files/folders, but for 100s of MB of stuff I tended to use the encrypted disk image as it didn't need to compress anything unless I wanted to.

In most cases, you'd have individual accounts with strong passwords, so anyone with access to that account password would have full access to the rest of that account's files. If you choose to share an account, then you've immediately created a weak point. Most security issues should only worry you if a nefarious actor has physical access to the machine (or they'd called you up from Apple or Google or Microsoft to 'fix' your internet for you and you've set up a remote access session with them).

My 'family' Mac has 6 accounts...one Admin account, one Child account, and the others are normal User accounts. The other computers in the family have a single Admin and a single User account tied to a specific family member). The worst repair I've had to do in about 10 years is wipe one normal user account and start again when they installed some crappy web browser extension which directed everything via their servers to deliver hundreds of ads/pop-ups...but I do run a sweep with MalwareBytes once a month.

[GE90]

mmm-five said:

^^^ THIS ^^^

You can do this for free with the built-in archive tool - but you'd have to be comfortable using Terminal to make it password-protected.

If you want an all-in-one simpler solution, then a you can use something like WinZip Mac (£30 after trial) or BetterZip (@25 after trial) or Keka (£3.99) to do the job.

Alternatively - and what I use for larger items - is to use Apple Disk Utility to create a small disk image that you can encrypt/password protect, and then use that for your confidential storage.

The only issue you have with any of these options - over something like Dropbox or Onedrive - is you can't stop another member of the family from deleting the file/folder - and most of these security features collapse if you're all using a single sing-on/account.

Edited by mmm-five on Friday 2nd April 11:08

Thanks!

So if I was to use WinZip, how would I save a file I've just scanned using Files on my iPhone? Would the folder still show and simply ask for a password on my iPhone?

Thanks again.

Edited by GE90 on Friday 2nd April 12:14

[GE90]

Likewise with a Disk Image - would this still show in Files on my phone, so I can save to?

Thanks

[mmm-five]

GE90 said:

Thanks!

So if I was to use WinZip, how would I save a file I've just scanned using Files on my iPhone? Would the file still show and simply ask for a password on my iPhone?

Thanks again.

I thought we were talking about a MacBook!

However, there is a Winzip iOS version (be careful which version you download, as there are some dodgy ones on there) which will allow you to open/create password-protected files.

[mmm-five]

GE90 said:

Likewise with a Disk Image - would this still show in Files on my phone, so I can save to?

Thanks

Don't think this is supported on iOS.

[GE90]

Looks like, with your help, I might have a solution.....

What I do is open Files on my iPhone, scan and save to a folder on my iCloud, which is where everything from my MacBook is saved (and open for children to view if they so wished!). So would the folder still show in Files?

Cheers

[megaphone]

OP can't you use Dropbox and save them there?

[GE90]

megaphone said:

OP can't you use Dropbox and save them there?

I'm afraid paying a monthly fee puts me off!

Edited by GE90 on Friday 2nd April 12:40

[Corso Marche]

GE90 said:

Looks like, with your help, I might have a solution.....

What I do is open Files on my iPhone, scan and save to a folder on my iCloud, which is where everything from my MacBook is saved (and open for children to view if they so wished!). So would the folder still show in Files?

Cheers

To be fair, there's only one correct solution to this, and it's the obvious one.

Password protect your user account on the Mac if it's holding sensitive information. Create another (or multiple) user accounts on the Mac which other people use. It really is as simple as that.

If people complain about saved bookmarks, saved files or whatever just export the bookmarks and import in the other accounts, create a shared folder for the files and let them copy them to a new folder in the new account if they want to.

You should not be using a shared user account if it holds sensitive information.
Keep it simple. Lock your account. Create new account(s) for other users. Task completed.