How to Turn Off the Firewall Security on a Mac

The Macintosh OS X 10.5 and above operating system includes a built-in firewall to protect the computer from being intruded upon by outside elements through the Internet. This also prevents the Mac from being accessed by approved outside sources. You can turn off the firewall that, by default, is turned on. The procedure is straightforward and can be accomplished within five minutes. The firewall also can be turned back on at any time.

Instructions

1. Click on the desktop once with the mouse. Go to the “Apple” menu at the top left of the screen. Select “System Preferences” from the drop-down menu. Select the “Security” icon beneath the "Personal” tab at the top of the window that appears.

2. Click the icon of the padlock in the lower left corner of the window that appears. Enter the administration password into the “Password” column of the pop-up window. Click the “OK” button.

3. Select the “Firewall” tab at the top of the window that appears. Click the “Stop” button next to “Click Stop to turn the firewall off.” Close the window by clicking the red button at the upper left corner.

Tips & Warnings

• The Firewall is only turned off for the user account that is active at the time.

References

• "Macworld": Apple Mac OS X Firewall Utility Software Review

Resources

• Apple: support: Mac OS X V10.5, 10.6: About the Application Firewall