Comments on: Password Protect Flash Drive

Question: Password Protect Flash Drive

CarlyH — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 16:04:50 -0800

Is there a free downloadable mac program to password protect my entire usb flash drive? I've already tried TrueCrypt and using a .dmg with Disk Utility.

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 16:24:25 -0800

What are you trying to do with the program that TrueCrypt and Disk Utility are not doing for you? Is it ease of use you're after?

By: CarlyH

CarlyH — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 16:47:41 -0800

Whenever I use my usb, I want to have to type in a password before I can see the data on it.

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 17:10:24 -0800

If you create an encrypted dmg file with Disk Utility, you can double-click on it and it will present a dialog box asking for a password.

If you want this file to be opened up automatically when the flash disk is mounted, you might use an application like Task3 or write a folder-action-triggered AppleScript that opens the encrypted image file, triggered to go off once the drive ("folder") is mounted.

By: zippy

zippy — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 17:32:31 -0800

Seconding encrypted dmg if you only need it on OS X, Truecrypt otherwise.

Either of these should do what you want, and are the standard solutions.

By: blob

blob — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 18:31:19 -0800

MacWorld has a article on using FileVault 2 (which comes with Lion or later) to encrypt an external drive, including flash drives. The article also mentions some potential issues (e.g. backward compatibility)