Your password opens it, with or without FolderSafe
The image password is your master password. If FolderSafe disappears, double-click data.sparsebundle in Finder, type the password, and your files are there.
Free beta · macOS 13+ · Apple silicon and Intel
A locked folder your AI agents can't open. Neither can sudo.
You gave your AI tools the run of your Mac. Keep a fortress inside it: put your archives in FolderSafe, lock it, and they turn into AES-256 ciphertext until you unlock them with your password or Touch ID.
- AES-256, built into macOS
- Unlock with Touch ID
- 12-word recovery phrase
- Opens without the app
- No account, nothing uploaded
- 2.6 MB download
Short answer: FolderSafe stores a folder's contents in a standard macOS AES-256 encrypted disk image and mounts it back at the same folder path when you unlock it. While it is locked, the folder is empty and read-only, and the data on disk is ciphertext: no app, script, AI agent or administrator (sudo/root) can read it without your password. While it is unlocked, it behaves like any folder, so anything running as you can read it. Lock it when you are done.
Key facts
- Encryption
- AES-256, the macOS encrypted disk image (APFS sparse bundle)
- Unlock with
- Master password, Touch ID, or a 12-word recovery phrase
- Without the app
- Double-click the image in Finder and enter your master password
- Where files appear
- In the same folder path, no extra disk icon on the Desktop or sidebar
- Auto-lock
- On sleep, on screen lock, after idle time, on quit
- Price
- Free during the beta
- Requires
- macOS 13 or later, Apple silicon or Intel
- Download
- 2.6 MB, signed and notarized by Apple
- Your data
- Never leaves your Mac. No account.
Three steps to a locked folder
About two minutes the first time.
- 1
Create
Pick a place and a name, set a master password and write down the 12 recovery words. FolderSafe creates the encrypted image and tests it before it hands it to you.
- 2
Move your files in
Use Move In to copy folders into it. Every file is checked against the original. Your originals stay where they are until you choose to move them to the Trash.
- 3
Lock
Click Lock, or let it lock itself when your Mac sleeps. The folder goes back to an empty, read-only folder with a lock icon.
Why a fortress, not more walls
AI coding agents and assistants now run with broad access to your files, often with every permission switched on so they can work without asking. Reports in 2025 and 2026 described malware that drove local AI command-line tools to scan Macs for keys and wallets, and agents that deleted home folders by mistake. Taking access away again is hard and easy to get wrong. FolderSafe takes the other route: leave the city open, and lock the treasure in a keep.
Trying to take permissions away
Deny lists, sandboxes and per-tool rules. They differ for every tool, they leak when one is missed, and they get in the way of the work you want the agent to do.
Locking what matters
Cold files that no tool needs day to day go into an encrypted folder. Locked, they are ciphertext for everyone. You open the keep only when you need something, then close it again.
Built so you can't lose the key
Encryption is only useful if you can always get back in. These rules are in the core and covered by tests.
Three keys, one lock
Master password, Touch ID (a key in this Mac's Secure Enclave) and a 12-word recovery phrase. The phrase resets a forgotten password; Touch ID never stores the password in plain text.
Tested before you trust it
On creation FolderSafe mounts the image, writes a marker, ejects it, unlocks it again with your password and checks the recovery phrase. Changing the password keeps both old and new copies until the change is confirmed.
What it looks like
Real screenshots from version 0.1.0.
FolderSafe compared with what macOS already has
FolderSafe uses the same encryption as Disk Utility. What it adds is the everyday part: one place to unlock, Touch ID, recovery, auto-lock and a folder that stays where it was.
| Disk Utility image (by hand) | FileVault | FolderSafe | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protects after you log in | Yes, until you open the image | No, the whole disk is unlocked at login | Yes, until you unlock the folder |
| Can sudo/root read it? | Not while closed | Yes, once you are logged in | Not while locked |
| Files appear at the same folder path | No, as a separate disk under /Volumes | Not applicable | Yes |
| Touch ID unlock | No | Login only | Yes |
| Forgotten password | Data is lost | Recovery key or Apple Account | 12-word recovery phrase |
| Auto-lock on sleep, screen lock, idle | No | Not applicable | Yes |
| Needs extra software to open | No | No | No, the image opens in Finder |
What people lock away
Archives your AI tools never need
Old contracts, tax records, scans of IDs, client folders from past projects. Keep them on the Mac, out of reach of any agent until you open them.
A shared or work Mac
Other admins on the machine can see your home folder. They cannot see inside a locked FolderSafe folder.
Before you install something unfamiliar
Lock first, then try the new tool, plugin or package. If it misbehaves, your archive was never readable.
Backups you can hand to the cloud
Copy the hidden data folder to a drive or a cloud folder. The copy stays encrypted; only your password opens it.
Personal photos and documents
Things you open a few times a year and would hate to see leaked.
Keys and wallets you rarely touch
Recovery codes, exported keys and old wallets that should not sit in plain files next to your code.
What it will not do
A security tool should say clearly where it stops.
- Unlocked means readable. While the folder is unlocked, every app running as you, AI agents included, can read it. Keep unlock windows short and use auto-lock.
- Encryption is not a backup. If the hidden
.name.foldersafefolder is deleted or the disk fails, the data is gone. Keep a copy of that folder elsewhere; the copy stays encrypted. - Lose both the password and the 12 words, lose the data. There is no back door, by design. We cannot recover it for you.
- Touch ID belongs to one Mac. After you add or remove fingerprints, or on a new Mac, unlock with the password and turn Touch ID on again.
- Not for files that sync while open. Do not keep the encrypted image inside an iCloud Drive or Dropbox folder that syncs while it is unlocked; that can corrupt it. Copy it there while it is locked instead.
- macOS only, version 13 or later. Windows and Linux are not supported yet.
- Spotlight cannot search inside a locked folder, which is the point.
- Beta. The encryption is Apple's, but the app around it is new. Keep a backup of anything you cannot replace.
Common questions
Can an AI agent or sudo read a locked FolderSafe folder?
No. While it is locked, the files exist only as AES-256 ciphertext inside the disk image, and the folder you see is empty and read-only. Root can copy the encrypted image but cannot read it without your password. Once you unlock it, anything running as you can read it, so lock it again when you are done.
What if I forget my master password?
Use Forgot the master password? and enter the 12 recovery words you wrote down at setup. FolderSafe opens the folder and lets you set a new password. Without the password and without the words, the data cannot be recovered.
Can I open my files without FolderSafe?
Yes. The data is a standard macOS encrypted disk image. Double-click data.sparsebundle in the hidden .name.foldersafe folder and enter your master password, or run hdiutil attach data.sparsebundle in Terminal.
Is FolderSafe free?
Yes, the app is free during the beta. A paid Pro edition with encrypted cloud backup is planned; the free features will stay free.
Leave the city open. Lock the keep.
Download FolderSafe, move your cold files in and lock them. Your AI tools keep working; your archive stays yours.
Free beta · signed and notarized by Apple · macOS 13+ · 2.6 MB