The Info window allows you to modify permissions for users, groups, and everyone else. How to Modify Permissions with the Info Window If that protection isn’t good enough, you can change permissions to prevent other users from doing stuff like editing your “Great American Novel,” reading private financial documents, or opening a specific application. Your Mac automatically sets permissions to limit a user’s access to system files and other user directories. The three groups of notations are shown below. For example, to create a “write only” drop box folder, you could set directory permissions to 622 to give the owner read and write permissions, and the group and everyone else write only permissions.

The Terminal application allows you to use octal notation to set permissions for the owner, a group, and everyone else. All of the available permissions are shown in the table below. But to really leverage permissions, you need to learn the Unix-based symbolic and octal permission notations, which are hidden beneath the macOS graphical user interface. You’ll learn how to modify permissions using the Info window in the next section. Read, write, and execute permissions overlap to create seven octal permission notations. You can mix and match any of the types to grant seven levels of access, as illustrated below. Permissions control three types of access: reading, writing, and executing. File Permissions Crash CourseĮvery file and folder on your Mac has a configurable set of permissions. Use trial and error to find an adequate level of security that everyone can live with. And if you give users too much power, you risk privilege escalation or worse. Users who are too restricted won’t be able to perform basic tasks. Of course, it can be difficult to strike a balance between convenience and security when using permissions. Whether you use your Mac in public places or share it with other users, you may want to change the permissions on your documents to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of your data.

Utilizing this security control can help protect your data from unauthorized access. Your Mac uses permissions to restrict access to applications, files, and folders. AirPort Apple Apps Backups Developer Education Email Hardware Internet iPad iPhone Mac Music Network Photos Security TV Weekend Wonk

Mac terminal commands open file