The Mac OS X El Capitan 10.11.4 update has just recently rolled out and while there are some freezing and Mac slowing down issues, Apple has included some useful features that a user should enjoy using on their Mac. One of them is the Password Protection on the Notes app.
The Notes app that comes by default in Mac OS X is a very useful one and a very easy-to-use tool for the users, and having a password protection for selected Notes makes it far better. While the same can be done even on the newly released iOS 9.3 for iPhones, the guide below is no how to set it up and use in Mac OS X.
How to set up Password / Lock in Notes
To set it up first, open the Notes app, and there, in the Settings, you will see an option to Set Password. The option can be seen on the “Notes” menu, or you can directly go to “File” and in the dropdown, select “Lock this Note”. Both will take you to the same Password setup section.
Set up the password, confirm it and then set a hint so you don’t have to fall into trouble later if you forget the password. There is a warning that if you forget the password, you might not find a way to unlock the note.
Do you have to lock manually every note? You have to, ideally, though according to the About section once the password is set up, the Notes also lock with the inactivity of it. So it is important that you always remember the password so that the automatically locked notes can be unlocked easily.
How to Lock and Unlock a Note in Notes App
Whichever note you are on, you can just go to the File option on the top and lock it. Otherwise, the control panel just above the top has a Lock icon in the extreme right, tapping on which also gives an option to lock the note.
Similarly, you will see the Remove Lock option whenever you go to a Locked Note and want to open it.
When you go to any Note that shows a Lock icon, there will be the following page that shows up, and you can enter the password there to view it. Remember that you should lock the Note later if you want to hide its contents.
How to change the password in Notes app?
Changing password in the Notes app can happen by going to the “Notes” dropdown menu in the top. In the dropdown, you will find the options “Change password” and “Reset password”.
Tap on Change password, and as expected, you will be asked to enter the current password and then the new one.
Forgot the Notes app password? Here’s how to reset it
It is important that you remember the password so you don’t have to go through the hassle of resetting it by using your Apple ID’s password, but at rare cases, you might unfortunately lose it. To reset the password, go to the same “Notes” menu and you will notice the Reset password option.
Warning: Resetting the password won’t affect the current notes, but you can have the password for the new notes from now on. That is the reason why I stressed on why you should remember the password. Apple is strict with data protection and thus you won’t see it allowing you to use the new password for the old notes.
