macOS can't put Touch ID on a folder, and encrypted disk images only accept their password. Touch ID works where Apple built it in: locked notes, Photos' Hidden album, the Passwords app and Safari's private windows. To open a folder with your fingerprint, use an app like Doghouse or Finderlock that keeps its password in Keychain behind Touch ID.
Happy to type a password? Our guide to every way to password-protect a folder on Mac covers the free Disk Utility method step by step.
On this page
Every Touch ID option compared
Everything on a Mac that can sit behind your fingerprint, next to the built-in folder lock that can't. Watch the second column: does it protect real files and folders, or just one app's contents?
| Option | Touch ID | Locks files and folders | Encryption | Without Touch ID | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Encrypted disk imageDisk Utility, built in | No | Yes | AES-256 | Its password, every time | Free |
| Disk image, password saved“Remember password in my keychain” | No, no prompt at all | Yes | Opens for anyone logged in | Opens without asking | Free |
| DoghouseOur app · Apple disk images | Yes, optional | Yes, opens in Finder | AES-256 | Vault password | Free for one vault · €19 / $19 once |
| FinderlockApple sparse bundles | Paid plans | Yes, from Finder | AES-256 | Its password | Free for 3 items · from $49 once |
| Locked notesNotes app | Yes | No, notes only | Yes | Login or notes password | Free |
| Hidden albumPhotos app | Yes | No, photos only | App lock | Login password | Free |
| Passwords appmacOS Sequoia 15 and later | Yes | No, passwords only | Keychain | Login password | Free |
Scroll sideways on small screens. Finderlock prices from finderlock.com, September 2026.
What Touch ID can and can't protect on its own
Touch ID on a Mac is wired into a fixed set of places. In you can turn it on for:
- Unlocking your Mac and waking it from sleep.
- Apple Pay, and purchases in the App Store, iTunes Store and Apple Books.
- Autofilling passwords in Safari and other apps.
- Fast user switching between accounts.
Some of Apple's apps use it for their own locks, covered below. Other apps can use it too, if their developers build it in.
What it can't do
-
Lock a folder in Finder. Folders have no Touch ID or password setting, and nothing in Get Info adds one. Hiding a folder isn't locking it, as our guide to hiding files on Mac explains.
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Unlock an encrypted disk image. Double-click one and macOS asks for its password. Save the password in your keychain and it opens with no prompt at all, for anyone using your account.
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Replace your password at startup. After a restart or logout, your Mac always wants your login password first.
How Touch ID works on a Mac
The sensor doesn't unlock anything by itself. It reads your finger and passes the scan to the Secure Enclave, a separate security processor in your Mac. According to Apple's platform security guide, your fingerprint is kept there as an encrypted mathematical template, not an image, and is never sent to Apple or included in backups.
When a scan matches, the Secure Enclave releases something that's already stored: a key, a password or a keychain item. That's the whole trick. Apps can mark a keychain item so it can't be used without Touch ID or your Mac password, and those rules are checked inside the Secure Enclave, not by the app.
So when an app “locks a folder with Touch ID”, the folder is really encrypted with a password, and that password is saved in your keychain. Before using it, the app asks for your fingerprint, either through a keychain rule checked by the Secure Enclave or with a Touch ID prompt of its own. Doghouse uses its own prompt, which, like most Touch ID prompts on a Mac, also accepts your Mac login password.
When your Mac asks for the password instead
Apple deliberately limits how long Touch ID can stand in for your password. Your Mac asks for the login password when:
- You've just restarted, shut down or logged out.
- You haven't unlocked your Mac for more than 48 hours.
- Five fingerprint attempts have failed.
- You're changing Touch ID settings.
- Your account is set to log in automatically.
Type it once and Touch ID works again. As Apple puts it, Touch ID doesn't replace your password; it gives access “within thoughtful boundaries and time constraints”.
Touch ID is a convenience layer. The password is the real key.
Touch ID never encrypts anything. The vault's password protects your files; Touch ID just saves you typing it. So:
- A weak password stays weak. Someone who copies the encrypted file can try passwords against it, and your finger isn't involved. Use a long passphrase. With Touch ID you'll rarely type it anyway.
- The password still has to live somewhere safe. After a restart, on a new Mac, or when the sensor fails, you'll need it. If it only exists in one keychain and that keychain is lost, so are the files.
- Touch ID stops the person at your Mac, not the person with your password. Anyone who knows the password can open the vault without your finger.
The flip side: a Touch ID lock is exactly as strong as the encryption and password behind it. With AES-256 and a good passphrase, that's very strong.
Built-in Touch ID locks worth using
None of these locks a folder. But if what you're protecting fits inside one of them, they're free and already on your Mac.
Locked notes
- In Notes, choose and pick how locked notes are protected: your Mac login password or a separate password.
- Select Use Touch ID, if your Mac or Magic Keyboard has it.
- Select a note, click the More button (⋯) near the search field, and choose Lock Note.
Some notes can't be locked: Quick Notes, shared notes, notes with tags, and notes with video, audio, PDF or document attachments. If you use a separate password, forget it and can't use Touch ID, Apple can't get those notes back. More on this in our password-protection guide.
Photos: the Hidden and Recently Deleted albums
On macOS Ventura and later, both albums are locked by default. Click View Album and use Touch ID or your login password. The switch is in , under Privacy: Use Touch ID or password. The Hidden album is switched off by default on Mac; turn it on with .
It locks what Photos shows. It isn't a place to keep files.
The Passwords app
On macOS Sequoia 15 and later, passwords and passkeys live in the Passwords app, and you sign in with Touch ID or your account password. On Sonoma and earlier they're in , behind the same check. It's a good home for the password to an encrypted folder. Just not for the folder itself.
Safari's private windows
In , select Require Touch ID to view locked tabs. Private windows then lock when you lock your screen or leave them idle, and you can lock them yourself with .
Lock a folder with Touch ID using Doghouse
- Encryption AES-256, Apple disk images
- Touch ID Optional, per vault
- Cost Free for one vault · €19 / $19 once for unlimited
- Needs macOS 14 or later
Doghouse makes encrypted vaults, standard Apple disk images that open in Finder as ordinary folders. It remembers each vault's password in your keychain (that's on by default), and a per-vault setting, Require Touch ID to unlock, makes it ask for your fingerprint before it uses that password.
- Download Doghouse and open it. There's no account to create.
- Click + New Vault. Give it a name, a folder (Documents unless you choose another), a size limit (it grows with its contents) and a password. “Remember password in my Keychain” and “Keep out of iCloud” are both on by default.
- Turn on Touch ID. Choose Vault Settings… for the new vault and switch on Require Touch ID to unlock. Leave it off and the remembered password opens the vault with one click, for anyone using your Mac.
- Move your files in. Drag them into the unlocked vault, or right-click them in Finder and choose “Add to Doghouse Vault”.
- Lock it with one click, from the menu bar, or with ⌃⌥⌘L, which locks every vault at once. It also locks itself after 15 minutes idle, when the screen locks, when the Mac sleeps, or when you quit.
- Unlock with Touch ID. Click Unlock with Touch ID and touch the sensor, and the vault opens in Finder. Like other Touch ID prompts on a Mac, it also accepts your Mac login password.
Settings for “Tax 2026”
With it on, someone using your unlocked Mac can see the vault, but Doghouse won't open it without your fingerprint or your Mac login password, so keep that password to yourself on a shared Mac. And because it's a standard Apple disk image, Disk Utility can open it without Doghouse. Our guide to opening a vault without Doghouse shows how.
Finderlock: the other Touch ID folder lock
- Encryption AES-256, Apple sparse bundles
- Cost Free for 3 items · $49 to $149 once
- Needs macOS 13 or later
Finderlock takes a similar approach. You right-click a file or folder in Finder to lock it, and it becomes an encrypted sparse bundle using AES-256 encryption provided by macOS, with credentials kept in Keychain. Locked items get a lock badge in Finder, and you double-click to unlock with Touch ID or the password.
The free plan covers three protected items on one Mac, with password protection and a 30-minute auto-lock. Touch ID is listed from the Personal plan ($49 once, two Macs, a year of updates), with Pro ($99, five Macs) and Lifetime ($149, unlimited Macs) above it.
If you like locking things where they sit in Finder, it's worth a look. Doghouse suits people who'd rather keep private files together in vaults, with Touch ID in the free version.
Macs without Touch ID
Most recent MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models have Touch ID in the top-right key. Many desktop Macs and older laptops don't. There are two ways round that.
- Magic Keyboard with Touch ID. Its sensor works with any Mac with Apple silicon, paired securely with the Mac's Secure Enclave. USB-C models need macOS Sequoia 15.1 or later; Lightning models need macOS Big Sur 11.4 or later.
- Apple Watch. Once set up in System Settings, a nearby Apple Watch can unlock your Mac and approve requests, such as viewing passwords. Whether another app accepts it depends on how that app asks, so an app that specifically requires Touch ID may still want the password.
Without either, every option in this guide still works with the password. You lose the shortcut, not the protection.
What happens if Touch ID fails
Nothing is lost. Touch ID is a shortcut to a password, so the password always works. The usual problems and fixes:
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“It doesn't recognise my finger.” Make sure your finger and the sensor are clean and dry. If it keeps failing, delete the fingerprint in Touch ID & Password and add it again, or register a different finger.
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“My Magic Keyboard sensor stopped working.” Connect the keyboard with its cable, wait about ten seconds and try again. Check the Mac has Apple silicon and a supported version of macOS.
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“An app stopped offering Touch ID after I changed fingerprints.” Keychain items can be tied to the fingerprints enrolled when they were saved, so a newly added finger can't be used to get in. If an app behaves like this, unlock with the password and set Touch ID up again.
-
“I've forgotten the password too.” Real encryption has no back door. If the password isn't saved anywhere you can reach, the files can't be recovered. Our forgotten-password section explains why.
Which should you use?
Short private text: codes, account details, notes
Locked notes with Touch ID
Photos you'd rather keep off the main grid
Photos' Hidden album
A private folder you open every day, with your fingerprint
Doghouse
Locking individual files where they sit in Finder
Finderlock
Files you open now and then, with nothing extra installed
A Disk Utility encrypted disk image
Several people share one Mac
Separate accounts, plus a vault for private files
Frequently asked questions
Can I put Touch ID on a folder in Finder?
No. macOS has no Touch ID or password setting for folders, and an encrypted disk image only accepts its password. To open a folder with your fingerprint, keep it in an encrypted vault made by an app that saves the password in Keychain behind Touch ID, such as Doghouse or Finderlock.
Is Touch ID more secure than a password?
It's more convenient, not stronger. Touch ID only releases a password that's already saved on your Mac, so your files are exactly as safe as that password. It does stop people learning the password by watching you type, and it makes a long password painless to use.
Why does my Mac ask for my password instead of Touch ID?
macOS requires your login password after a restart or logout, when you haven't unlocked your Mac for more than 48 hours, after five failed fingerprint attempts, and when you change Touch ID settings. Type the password once and Touch ID works again.
Can I use Touch ID on a Mac that doesn't have it built in?
Yes, with a Magic Keyboard with Touch ID, as long as your Mac has Apple silicon. USB-C models need macOS Sequoia 15.1 or later. Lightning models need macOS Big Sur 11.4 or later.
What happens to my files if Touch ID stops working?
Nothing. Touch ID is only a shortcut to a password, so the password always works: your login password for Apple's apps, or the vault password for an encrypted folder. That's why the password itself must be kept somewhere safe.
Should I use Doghouse or Finderlock for Touch ID?
Both keep files in Apple's AES-256 encrypted disk images and use Keychain for Touch ID. Finderlock locks items in place from Finder, with a free plan for three items and Touch ID from $49. Doghouse keeps files in vaults that open as folders, and is free for one vault with Touch ID included.
About this guide
Written by the Doghouse team at Sprout Media in Dublin. We make Doghouse, one of the two apps compared here. Touch ID rules and menu paths are checked against Apple's documentation for macOS Tahoe 26, with older names noted where they differ. Finderlock details come from its own website in September 2026.
Published · Last updated . Spotted something out of date? Tell us.
Sources
- Use Touch ID on Mac — Apple Support
- Touch ID & Password settings on Mac — Apple Support
- If Touch ID isn't working on Mac — Apple Support
- Touch ID and Face ID security — Apple Platform Security
- Optic ID, Face ID, Touch ID, passcodes and passwords — Apple Platform Security
- Keychain data protection — Apple Platform Security
- Magic Keyboard with Touch ID — Apple Platform Security
- Lock your notes on Mac — Apple Support
- Hide photos with the Hidden album — Apple Support
- Photos settings on Mac — Apple Support
- Find saved passwords and passkeys on your Mac — Apple Support
- Lock private browsing windows in Safari on Mac — Apple Support
- Unlock your Mac and approve requests with Apple Watch — Apple Support
- Finderlock features and pricing — Finderlock
- Finderlock terms — Finderlock