140 MACWORLD AUGUST 2021
HELPDESK MAC 911deleted when it’s
needed or in use.
Because macOS is
Unix based, it
offers file-level
permissions flags
that control how a
file can be
manipulated and
by whom.
But macOS has
long had a
separate way to
lock a file from the Finder that also
prevents it from being modified, deleted,
or renamed from the Terminal or from
other apps. Lock, unlock, and status
commands are also available via the
command line in Terminal.
(Note that Finder-oriented locking is
entirely different from setting a file to
read-only permission either in the Finder
or via the Terminal, which involves
changing Unix permissions. I recommend
that you not use read-only status for files
and folder you work with in the Finder
and via apps, as the Finder doesn’t
honor those permissions for files that are
assigned to you in
macOS via Unix
permissions. That
typically includes
everything in your home
directory.)
Lock and unlock via the Finder in
macOS Big Sur
Turning the lock on and off in the Finder
is incredibly simple. Select one file or
folder and choose File → Get Info; or
select multiple files or folders and hold
down Option while choosing File → Show
Inspector—the Option key opens a
single Get Info window for the multiple
items called Multiple Items Info. A
Locked checkbox can be selected or
deselected. It shows a dash (–) if the
items selected are in a mixed state of
locked and unlocked; clicking will lock
all the files.While macOS used to show an overlaid lock icon in Mojave, that’s no
longer the case in Big Sur.Big Sur prompts you to confirm removing a locked file.