I don’t know about you, but I still haven’t got over the death of TrueCrypt. It was a fantastic program for making encrypted folders in all respects, and its demise was totally unexpected.
Now I know that it has a successor – VeraCrypt – and it is more or less twin siblings. But VeraCrypt still doesn’t feel the same. And I have had lots of issues opening encrypted folders using VeraCrypt, and losing valuable files in the process.
But if you use a MacOS computer, then you don’t need VeraCrypt, because Disk Utility will make your encrypted folders for you.
Encrypted Folders With MacOS Disk Utility
It wasn’t that long ago that I showed you how to format a USB stick or SD card using Disk Utility. Many MacOS users routinely overlook Disk Utility, but it is really a nifty little program. The encryption abilities is just the icing on the cake.
An encrypted folder on MacOS has the file format DMG (similar to many MacOS software installation programs). DMG stands for “Disk Image”, and is not much different than an ISO file on Windows. Once the DMG folder has been created, you simply “mount” it to open it, and you can start dragging items in. https://ideasclever256.weebly.com/blog/google-chromecast-download-for-mac.
The process to make an encrypted DMG folder is absurdly simple.
Running Mac OS X Lion. My current setup is a 250 GB partition, encrypted by FileVault2, for Lion. Old Snow Leopard install is in second half, another 250 GB partition, unencrypted, of the same disk. The Disk Utility GUI doesn't allow me to delete the Snow Leopard partition due to CoreStorage (FV2) partitions being present on the disk. Select the DMG file you wish to resize, give it your preferred size, and then do the resize. There is one unfortunate caveat to this. When you resize a DMG, it creates extra space in the DMG, but does not resize the partition, so you'll have free space available that you can partition, similar to a hard drive. This may or may not be what you want.
Open Up Disk Utility
Obviously you are not going to get very far without opening Disk Utility! You will find it in the “Utilities” sub-folder of the “Applications” folder. It doesn’t matter which area of the computer is currently highlighted. When it comes time to make the disk image, you will be asked where you want to save it.
Start a New Blank Image
![Enlarge A Dmg Encrypted Enlarge A Dmg Encrypted](/uploads/1/3/3/2/133279827/257881485.jpg)
Go to the Menu bar and choose File–>New Image–>Blank Image.
Start Filling Out The Details Of The Encrypted Folder
Here is where you set up and configure the container to your specifications. Let’s go through each one.
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- Save As : What you want it to be called on the computer. This will be the name seen by everyone who has access to your computer.
- Where : Where on the computer you want to save the newly created folder. Obviously you can move this afterwards. It is not fixed in one place.
- Name : The name you alone will see when it is mounted and open on the MacOS system.
- Size : The size you want your container to be. One important thing to note is that whatever size you specify will be instantly taken by your computer. So if you specify 100MB, then 100MB will be immediately deducted from your hard drive space – even if there is nothing in the folder yet.
- Format : Always choose MacOS Extended (Journaled).
- Encryption : See the next section for this part.
- Partitions : Always choose Single partition – GUID Partition Map.
- Image Format : If you want to add and remove files from the image file, then choose read/write disk image.
Choose Your Encryption Protocol
When you drop down the Encryption menu, you are given 2 options. 128-bit AES encryption, and 256-bit AES encryption. Media players for mac.
Essentially, both are extremely secure, but the 256-bit version is more secure than the 128-bit version. The only downside (as the menu says) is that if you encrypt with 256-bit, you are going to see a noticeable time-lag.
However, unless you are hiding Top Secret files, or running Wikileaks from your MacOS computer, then the 128-bit version will be more than sufficient.
Set The Password
When you choose the encryption standard that you want, it will immediately ask you to set a password. Obviously it goes without saying to choose an extremely strong password. No dictionary words. Instead, a combination of letters and numbers.
If you can’t think of one yourself, you can make it easier on yourself, by clicking the key icon, and a Password Assistant will open up. Next to “Length“, slide the slider along to the number of characters you want. Under “Type”, choose which kind of password you want. As I said, the letters and numbers one is the most secure, but ultimately it is up to you.
It will then show you a password you can use under “Suggestion”, and under “Quality”, the green bar will tell you how secure it thinks the password is. If for some reason you don’t like that password suggestion, drop the menu down, and you will get lots more suggestions.
Choose one, then copy and paste the password into a secure document. If you lose the password, you lose access to the disk image!
Wait For The Encrypted Container To Be Made
When you have filled in all of the details, and you have clicked “Save”, it will create the disk image folder for you. When it has been made, click “Done”….and you are done.
Go to the Finder location where you told it to save the disk image, and it will be sitting there open waiting for you. To access it, go to the folder name in “Devices”.
Double-Click To Mount & Open The Folder
To normally open the folder (such as when it is closed), double-click the DMG file and a window will jump up, demanding the password. It should be noted at this point that you cannot copy and paste passwords into the box. Spotify download all music. You need to type them manually.
For obvious reasons, you do not want to have checked “Remember password in my keychain“. Otherwise, when you put the mouse cursor inside the password box, the password will automatically be entered!
Kind of defeats the whole purpose of encryption doesn’t it?
Drag Your Files Inside The New Window
Once you have successfully entered the password, the folder will appear in the Devices section. Click on it to enter the folder. You can now view the contents, delete files from the folder, and add new files.
When you want to close the encrypted disk image folder again, click the upwards arrow icon next to the folder name. This will dismount the folder and close it.
Conclusion
TrueCrypt and VeraCrypt may have its legions of fans (and I was one of them). But MacOS (and Windows, for that matter) have their own built in encryption tools. You just have to know where to look.
Article Summary
In this article, we have prepared the step by step guide, which will help you to encrypt your USB Flash Drive or folders whether it’s on Mac, Windows, Ubuntu & Linux.
All of these methods easy to use and free!
table of content:
Almost every computer user today has at least one USB flash drive. These handy storage devices are often found in pockets or used as keychains. Unfortunately, their small size makes them easy to misplace or lose.
When you lose your USB drive, there’s always a risk of someone finding it and going through your personal files. So, to truly protect your data, make sure your USB flash drive is secure.
You can easily do this with your Mac computer, which allows you to put a protective password on your data. To do so, you can use your Mac to create an encrypted disk image of your USB drive; the disk image becomes a container for your data and only authorized users who know the password can open it.
Tutorial: How To Encrypt A Flash Drive In Mac:
There are many ways to encrypt USB Flash Drive in Mac, also you can use many tools to encrypt your files or full disk, but in this tutorial, we are going to use Mac Internal Encryption program which is highly recommended.
Another method: We are creating another folder inside your USB drive which is encrypted and contain your sensitive data in it. This is the best way because you don’t need to enter the passcode each time when you are accessing the files other than the Encrypted Folder.
- Insert your flash drive into a USB port on your Mac. Copy all files on the drive and paste them into your Desktop. The USB drive has to be empty during the encryption process. All files can simply be copied back onto it after the completion of the encryption process.
- Once the flash drive is empty, open Disk Utility, which is found under Applications in your Finder menu.
- You will see a window with a list of devices towards the left portion of it. Choose your flash drive from the list.
- Go to the Erase tab and click on Format to open the corresponding menu. From the choices, choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled). You will be asked for a name, which you can freely choose.
Next:
- Click on the Erase button at the bottom of the window to delete all data on the drive. Wait for the process to be completed.
- After the process, open the File menu and click on New, then tap on Blank Disk Image.
- Save Location should be your USB Drive Name.
- Choose the size closest to the full capacity of your USB drive; make sure the size is smaller. As for the Encryption menu, choose either 128-bit or 256-bit AES encryption. As for the Partitions, choose Single Partition.
- Go to Image Format and click on Read/write disk image. Finally, click Create.
- A small window will appear where you will be asked to provide a password. Don’t lose your password as you will not be able to access your data without password.
- Paste all your old files onto the drive; place them on the DMG disk image file. If you don’t save them in that file, they will not be password protected.
Tutorial: How To Encrypt A Flash Drive In Windows:
Windows 7 and above versions have an internal feature called BitLocker, which is used to encrypt internal and external drives. Unfortunately, Password protection is not available as a built-in feature in Windows XP, 7, 8 or even in 10. But there are few third-party tools available for password protection.
There is another tool called “TrueCrypt” which is now moved to BitLocker, was previously used for the same purposes.
In this section we’ll show you:
- How to Encrypt Folders & Texts Files in Windows
- How to encrypt Full USB Drive in Windows by using BitLocker.
- Method to encrypt particular folder inside your USB
How to Encrypt Full USB Encryption With BitLocker:
STEP #1:
Plug the USB drive and move your data from it. Once it’s done! format the USB by NTFS Format.
STEP #2:
Right Click on your Flash Drive and Click on ” Turn On BitLocker”.
STEP #3:
Dmg2iso windows 10 64 bit. Check mark the first option, that enables the password Fields, Enter your desire password and hit next.
STEP #4:
In this step you need to save your “private key” in somewhere safe location. Just in case you forgot your password, it is recommended to save your password to your cloud or online drive. After that, Click on Next. It will take a little time to process, depending on your Flash Drive Storage as well as your PC Performance. Usually It takes about 1 minute per 1 GB.
STEP #5:
Once it’s done! Unplugged the Flash Drive and Plug it again, when you reconnect your USB Flash Drive it will ask you for the password to get in there.
Note: In this method, you will only encrypt full USB flash drive.
How To Encrypt A Folder In Flash Drive:
In this tutorial, you will see how you can encrypt particular folder inside your Flash drive. This is the best way to encrypt and protect your Folder data, it’s also best because; you don’t need to insert the password each time you want to access other files on your USB.
Unfortunately, there is no built-in feature available for Windows users for that specific task. But you can use third party tools like Lacie Free Encrypted Tool to Encrypt your Folder.
Here Are The Simple Steps to Encrypt Folder In Flash Drive:
STEP #1:
You need to download ZIP Files From Lacie website. Download and extract the files.
STEP #2:
Copy All Extracted Folders and paste into your USB Flash Drive.
Remember“this folder should be copied and pasted into root, it shouldn’t be inside any subfolder, otherwise it won’t work”
STEP #3:
Paste all the Extracted Folder inside your USB Flash Drive. Download xcode mac no itunes.
STEP #4:
Go to the extracted Folder and find the private-public.exe file and run it.
STEP #5:
Any video converter for mac old version. This is where you can give a size to your folder, in my case i’m just using 500mb for demonstration. After giving the size of your folder simply click on “Next”
STEP #6:
Now Create a password for that folder: choose the password and click next.
STEP #7:
Hit Next and process will start in few seconds, it also depends on your data and PC performance, usually it takes 1 minute per 1 GB transfer.
STEP #8:
When it’s done, it will take you to disk mounting process. Here, you just need to put your created password in the fields.
STEP #9:
It’s almost completed, if you go to “my computer” you can see there are some other drive pop-ups! which you have created. Put all the sensitive data in it and it will automatically save into encrypted folder inside Flash Drive.
Now all of your data in that encrypted drive is protected through encryption and once you disconnect the USB Flash drive, the encrypted drive will go away from sidebar or in “My Computer”.
When you reconnect your Flash Drive, it will not going show you the encrypted folder which you have created, because it’s hidden. In order to retrieve that you need to go to your USB storage and again run the private-public.exe, and this time it will just ask for a password.
Once you provide the password, that will drive show again and you can check your data inside.
Tutorial: How To Encrypt A Flash Drive In Ubuntu Or Linux Operating System:
As like other operating systems, there are encrypted tools available, which is called third party tools which are perfectly compatible with both Linux & Ubuntu.
In this Tutorial we will see how you can encrypt Flash Drive by using Disk Utility.
STEP #1
The first step is to plug in your USB Flash Drive and Copy All the data Somewhere else.
The first step is to plug in your USB Flash Drive and Copy All the data Somewhere else.
STEP #2
Go to the dashboard Home and type Disk Utility
STEP #3
Find your Flash drive and click on it
STEP #4
Click on unmount the Volume so you can format the disk before encryption
STEP #5
Now Hit Format Drive and be patient
STEP #6
Now here you can encrypt full disk or create a partition of encrypted storage.
Enlarge A Dmg Encrypted Download
STEP #7
Check the “Encrypt underlying device” and create the drive
STEP #8
Now Create New password for your encrypted folder and hit “Create”
STEP #9
Now when you disconnect your USB and Reconnect Your USB you will see the dialog box asking for the password.
Enlarge A Dmg Encrypted Email
Finally, the encryption of your folder or drive is complete. Here is the Video Tutorial if you want.
Are There Any Risks Of Encrypting Flash Drive?
When we think about encryption, it always seems beneficial which is mostly true. However, in encrypting a flash drive, there are some issues to which a user is still prone. Ms office 2016 mac download.
The password could be the greatest issue as the whole encryption process depends on keeping a strong password. If your password is easy to guess or doesn’t contain strong characters then there are chances that it could be revealed.
Most people write down the password to remember it which produces the chances of losing it. Also, if the encrypted flash drive is entered into a compromised device with key logging software then you may lose the password while entering it.
However, the most probable risk is the loss of the password if you forget it and there is no chance to decrypt USB data without password. But, there are the ways to recover password such as BitLocker’s recovery key or a clue or to store it securely.