The Apple Notes app is a fantastic place to store everything from grocery lists to sensitive financial data, passwords, and private journal entries. If you share your Mac with family members or colleagues, you do not want them accidentally reading your personal information. Fortunately, macOS allows you to lock individual notes behind a custom password or your Mac’s Touch ID sensor.
How to Lock a Specific Note
Before you lock a note, be aware that you can use either your Mac login password or a separate, custom Notes password. If you create a custom password and forget it, Apple cannot help you recover the locked notes.
- Open the Notes app on your Mac.
- Select the specific note you want to protect from the left sidebar.
- Click the Padlock icon located in the toolbar at the top of the window.
- Select Lock Note from the dropdown menu.
- If this is the first time you are locking a note, you will be asked to choose your locking method. You can choose to “Use Login Password” or “Create a Separate Password.” (Using your Mac login password is highly recommended).
- Enter your password to confirm.
The note is now locked. A padlock icon will appear next to the note’s title in the sidebar. When you navigate away from the note, or when your Mac goes to sleep, the note will be hidden behind a screen that says “This note is locked.” You will need to enter your password or use Touch ID to view its contents.
How to Remove the Lock
If the information is no longer sensitive, you can easily remove the password protection.
- Select the locked note and enter your password to unlock and view it.
- Click the Padlock icon in the top toolbar again.
- Select Remove Lock.
The password requirement will be instantly removed, and the note will be freely accessible to anyone using your Mac.