Doghouse Help

How to use Doghouse on your Mac: creating, unlocking and maintaining vaults, Pocket Vaults, settings, licensing and fixes. Written from the app’s own source, so every label matches what you see.

Quick answers

How do I change a vault’s password? Lock the vault, right-click it, choose Change Password…. The item only appears while the vault is locked. Full steps.
Why can’t I rename, resize or verify my vault? Those items need a locked vault too. Click Lock first. The right-click menu.
I forgot my password. Check your Keychain. If it isn’t there, nobody can recover the vault, including us. What to check.
My vault won’t lock. A file inside is still open in some app. Close it and lock again; Doghouse never force-ejects. Locking.
What does the free version include? Everything, for one vault, forever. A lifetime license adds unlimited vaults on up to 3 Macs. Licensing.

Getting started

Create a vault

The New Vault sheet explained: name, location, size limit, password and hint, “Remember password in my Keychain”, “Keep out of iCloud”, and how to add a vault you already have.

Everyday use

Unlock and lock a vault

The Unlock button, Touch ID and the saved Keychain password, working in the vault in Finder, the “Add to Doghouse Vault” Finder service, and the different ways to lock again.

Reference

The right-click menu

Every item and when it appears. Rename, Change Password, Change Size Limit, Reclaim Free Space, Verify Vault and Keep out of iCloud need a locked vault; Vault Settings needs an unlocked one.

How-to

Change a vault’s password

Lock the vault first, then right-click it and choose Change Password…. Why the item is missing while the vault is unlocked, what the sheet asks for, and what happens to the saved Keychain password.

Per-vault options

Vault Settings

Available while a vault is unlocked: Require Touch ID to unlock, Show in Finder after unlocking, Unlock automatically when Doghouse starts, and editing the password hint.

Pocket Vaults

Pocket Vaults and the second password

Small, fixed-size vaults for notes, photos and PDFs that open inside Doghouse. The vault window, photo optimisation, exporting, and the second password that opens a different set of items.

Settings

Auto-lock, lock on sleep and the panic shortcut

Vaults lock themselves after 15 minutes by default, when the screen locks, when the Mac sleeps and when Doghouse quits. The panic shortcut locks everything from any app. Locking is never forced.

Settings

The menu bar, the Dock and app settings

The menu bar icon and compact panel, the plain menu, hiding the Dock icon, Launch Doghouse at login, the four designs, and a table of every setting with its default.

Licensing

The free version and the lifetime license

One vault free forever, every feature included. A lifetime license (€19 / $19 once) unlocks unlimited vaults on up to 3 Macs. Activating a key, moving to a new Mac, and what never stops working.

Privacy

Privacy, storage and the update check

What Doghouse stores where on your Mac, the two network requests it can make, how to update the app, how it avoids leaving traces, and what uninstalling does and doesn’t remove.

Fixes

Troubleshooting

Change Password missing from the menu, “Lock … first” messages, a forgotten password, a vault that won’t lock, “Vault file not found”, a full vault, Touch ID not offered, and more.

Guides

Mac privacy guides

Longer reads about the tools built into macOS: encrypted disk images, Touch ID, iCloud, hiding files, and opening a Doghouse vault without Doghouse.

Support

Contact us

Not answered here? Email support@doghousevault.com or use the contact form. Please include your macOS and Doghouse versions (About Doghouse shows the version).