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 encrypted data.
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. To allow the location of your Mac to be used by Siri Suggestions and Safari Suggestions, turn on Location-Based Suggestions. |
Calendars | Allow apps to access your calendars. The listed apps have requested access. |
Contacts | Allow apps to access your contacts. The listed apps have requested access. |
Files & 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. To add an app, click |
HomeKit | Allow apps to access your home data on this 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. |
Passkeys Access for Web Browsers | Allow third-party browsers to use your saved passkeys to sign you in to websites. |
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. |
Reminders | Allow apps to access your reminders. The listed apps have requested access. |
Accessibility | Allow apps to run scripts and system commands to control your Mac. The listed apps have requested access. To add an app, click |
App Management | Allow apps to update or delete other apps on your Mac. |
Automation | Allow apps to access and control other apps on your Mac. The listed apps have requested access. |
Bluetooth | Allow apps to use Bluetooth® on this Mac. The listed apps have requested access. To add an app, click |
Camera | Allow apps to access the camera on your Mac. The listed apps have requested access. |
Developer Tools | Allow apps to run software that doesn’t meet the system’s security policy. |
Focus | Allow apps to see and share your Focus status. |
Input Monitoring | Allow apps to monitor input from your mouse or trackpad, and to see what you type on the keyboard. The listed apps have requested access. To add an app, click |
Local Network | Allow apps to find and communicate with devices on your local network. |
Microphone | Allow apps to access the microphone on your Mac. The listed apps have requested access. |
Motion & Fitness | Allow apps to access your motion and fitness activity on your Mac. The listed apps have requested access. |
Remote Desktop | Allow apps to access your screen and audio through Remote Desktop. |
Screen & System Audio Recording | Allow apps to record your screen and audio, or just your audio. The listed apps have access. To add an app, click |
Speech Recognition | Allow apps to access speech recognition on your Mac. The listed apps have requested access. |
Sensitive Content Warning | Avoid seeing photos and videos that may contain sensitive content. Sensitive photos and videos appear blurred. You can choose to view them without blurring. |
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 Siri 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. |
Apple Intelligence Report | Generate a report of requests your Mac has sent to Private Cloud Compute in the last 15 minutes or 7 days. See Create an Apple Intelligence privacy report. Note: This option is available if you have a Mac with M1 or later and Apple Intelligence is turned on. |
Allow applications 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 If your Mac asks you to allow an accessory to connect. |
FileVault | Require a login password to access your startup disk. 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 Account 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. |
Lockdown Mode | Limit apps, websites, and features if you believe you’re being personally targeted by a highly sophisticated cyberattack. Most people are never targeted by attacks of this nature. See the Apple Support article About Lockdown Mode. |
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