Change Privacy & Security settings on Mac
On your Mac, use Privacy & Security settings to manage the information your Mac makes available to others across the internet or on a network, and to protect your information by encrypting it with FileVault.
To change these settings, choose Apple menu 
in the sidebar. (You may need to scroll down.)
Open Privacy & Security settings for me
Option | Description |
|---|---|
Location Services | Allow apps, system services, and websites to gather and use information based on the current location of your Mac to provide a variety of location-based services. To see specific system services that use your location, click the Details button at the bottom of the list on the right. To allow the location of your Mac to be used by Siri Suggestions and Safari Suggestions, turn on Location-Based Suggestions. |
Contacts | Allow apps to access your contacts. The listed apps have requested access. |
Calendars | Allow apps to access your calendars. The listed apps have requested access. |
Reminders | Allow apps to access your reminders. The listed apps have requested access. |
Photos | Allow apps to access your photos. The listed apps have requested access. Note: If you have items that are stored outside the Photos Library, other apps may still have access to them. |
Bluetooth | Allow apps to use Bluetooth on this Mac. The listed apps have requested access. To add an app, click the Add button |
Microphone | Allow apps to access the microphone on your Mac. The listed apps have requested access. |
Camera | Allow apps to access the camera on your Mac. The listed apps have requested access. |
HomeKit | Allow apps to access your home data on this Mac. The listed apps have requested access. |
Speech Recognition | Allow apps to access speech recognition on your Mac. The listed apps have requested access. |
Media & Apple Music | Allow apps to access Apple Music, your music and video activity, and your media library on this Mac. The listed apps have requested access. |
Files and Folders | Allow apps to access files and folders in different locations on this Mac. The listed apps have requested access. |
Full Disk Access | Allow apps to access all files on your computer, including data from other apps (for example, Mail, Messages, Safari, and Home), data from Time Machine backups, and certain administrative settings for all users on this Mac. The listed apps have requested access. To add an app, click the Add button |
Focus | Limit notifications. |
Accessibility | Allow apps to run scripts and system commands to control your Mac. The listed apps have requested access. To add an app, click the Add button |
Input Monitoring | Allow apps to monitor input from your keyboard, mouse, or trackpad, even while you’re using other apps. The listed apps have requested access. To add an app, click the Add button |
Screen Recording | Allow apps to record the contents of your screen. The listed apps have requested access. To add an app, click the Add button |
Passkeys Access for Web Browsers | Allow apps to access passkeys you saved for websites and apps. |
Automation | Allow apps to access and control other apps on your Mac. The listed apps have requested access. |
App Management | Allow apps to update or delete other apps on your Mac. |
Analytics & Improvements | Automatically send analytics information to Apple and app developers, which helps them serve customers better and improve the quality of their products.
See Share analytics information from your Mac with Apple and Change Siri & Spotlight settings. |
Apple Advertising | You may sometimes receive ads in Apple News, Stocks, and the Mac App Store that are targeted to your interests. To understand why a specific ad was shown to you, click the Ad button on the ad. You can turn off Personalized Ads to prevent Apple from using your information for ad targeting. This may not decrease the number of ads you receive, but the ads may be less relevant to you. To prevent Personalized Ads, go to System Settings > Privacy & Security, click Apple Advertising, then turn off Personalized Ads. Note: The option to turn off Personalized Ads appears after Apple News or Stocks asks your permission to send you personalized ads. To review Apple’s Advertising and Privacy policy, click About Apple Advertising & Privacy. |
Allow applications downloaded from | Protect your Mac from malware by only allowing apps that come from the App Store or from identified developers.
|
Allow accessories to connect | If you have a Mac laptop with Apple silicon, you have to approve USB or Thunderbolt devices and SD cards you connect to your Mac.
See the Apple Support article Allow accessories to connect to your Mac laptop computer with Apple silicon. |
System software blocked | Load system extensions from the developer of recently installed software. |
FileVault | Turn on FileVault to encrypt all the information currently on the startup disk, and encrypt and decrypt new information as it’s read and written to storage. The initial encryption may take a while, depending on the amount of data that’s stored, but you can use your Mac while encryption is taking place. When you turn on encryption, all users are required to use a login password. When you first turn on FileVault, you choose how you want to unlock your startup disk if you forget your login password: with the Apple ID you use for iCloud, or with a recovery key that’s created for you. If you choose the recovery key, you must write down and keep track of the recovery key yourself. You can also add other users who are allowed to unlock and access the information on your Mac. When you turn off FileVault, the encrypted information on your Mac is decrypted, and your Mac stops encrypting new information. |
Lockdown Mode | Turn on Lockdown Mode if you believe you may be personally targeted by a highly sophisticated cyberattack. |
Enable Users | Allow users to log in at startup and unlock the encrypted information on the Mac. Users that are not enabled need an administrator to log in before they can use the Mac. |
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