How to Secure your Mac in six simple steps

Manage logins

In System Preferences, click Users & Groups; under your username you can add a password or change an existing one. In Login Options, make sure you turn off Automatic login, too.

Gatekeeper

To change your Gatekeeper settings, go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General. Here you can choose whether to allow apps from outside the App Store to be installed.

Reset user passwords

To reset the password of any account, hold ç+R at startup. When the macOS Utilities window appears, go to Utilities > Terminal, type resetpassword, then follow the on-screen instructions.

FileVault

In System Preferences > Security & Privacy, click the FileVault tab, then the padlock icon. Type an admin name and password, then click Turn On FileVault. The Mac then silently encrypts its drive.

Firmware password

If you’re worried about passwords being reset from Terminal, set a firmware password. Hold ç+R at startup, go to Utilities > Startup Security Utility, then click Turn On Firmware Password.

Root user

This has complete access to your Mac’s files, so don’t enable it without a very good reason, and be sure to disable it afterwards. See bit.ly/mfru for help – and give it your own strong password!