TOP MAC SECURITY SETTINGS PASSWORD

You’ll need to enter this password to open any password manager you have on your Mac, so don’t rely on just grabbing it from your password manager (unless you plan to use a password manager on your phone).

You’ll need to type this into your Mac from time to time, so make a password you can remember. GeneralĬhange Password: If you haven’t already, set a long, strong password (20+ characters, with a mix of uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and special characters). We’ll go through the tabs at the top of the window. You ask yourself, “Where is Security & Privacy in my Mac?” Well, know you know that this is where you need to go ( System Preferences > Security & Privacy). Sometimes when you’re trying to open a new app, macOS or the app will tell you to change a setting in Security & Privacy. Go back to System Preferences, and click Security & Privacy.Īs you can tell from the name, this is a central place for many macOS security settings and macOS privacy settings. Configure Screen Time as you wish for yourself or children who use your Mac. You can use it as parental control software. Screen Time allows you to control the amount of time that can be spent on activities, by yourself or others. Go back to System Preferences, then click Screen Time. Review and edit any users and groups, as necessary. Go back to System Preferences, then click Users & Groups. Go back to System Preferences, then click Touch ID.Ĭheck the box for the items that you want to use Touch ID for. Go back to System Preferences, then click Wallet & Apple Pay.Īdd only the cards that you need to use on your Mac. Go back to System Preferences, then click Internet Accounts.Ĭlick through each account and ensure that it’s syncing only the data you want synced. If you ever share the screen of your Mac, in person or online, consider unchecking the box for Show notification preview. What could a person learn about you if they could see messages, calendar reminders, and other notifications appear on your screen when you’re away from your Mac? I recommend adjusting your settings to not reveal such sensitive data.įor each app that has notifications that could reveal sensitive data, set Show notification preview to when unlocked, or uncheck the box for Show notifications on lock screen to not have that app show notifications on the lock screen. Go back to System Preferences, then click Notifications. If you do that, you should also uncheck the box at the bottom of the window, Allow Spotlight Suggestions in Lookup. Although Apple says it does this in a privacy-respecting way, you may want to disable this by unchecking the box for Spotlight Suggestions. Most of these are locally on your Mac, but the Spotlight Suggestions category pulls info from the Internet. You’ll see a list of categories that Spotlight can include in its search results. Go back to System Preferences, then click Spotlight. Siri gives you more privacy than other voice assistants, but if you don’t want to use it (as I don’t), you can uncheck the box for Enable Ask Siri. Go back to System Preferences, then click Siri. This allows you to find, lock, or wipe/erase your Mac remotely, if it becomes broken, lost, or stolen. I recommend keeping to a minimum the data you store in iCloud.

I recommend keeping to a minimum the data you store in iCloud.īack on the iCloud screen, uncheck the boxes for any apps that you don’t want to store data in iCloud. Uncheck the boxes for any items that you don’t want to store data in iCloud Drive. You’ll see a list of apps and items that can be stored in iCloud Drive. You may not be able to change some options until you unlock that padlock by clicking it and entering your Mac password. There’s a padlock icon in the bottom left corner of many System Preferences screens. We’ll go through the settings it contains in order. To open the macOS settings, simply open the System Preferences app (a gray gear icon). Improve macOS Security and Privacy Using macOS System Preferences

Top mac security settings