How to Unlock Folders on a Mac Desktop

By Alexander Poirier

You can work with two open windows on the desktop of your Mac.
i Brian Kersey/Getty Images News/Getty Images

The Mac operating system allows users to lock their folders to prevent the modification or deletion of their contents by unauthorized users. Locking a folder has little use, however, if you are unable to unlock it later. If you've locked a folder on your Mac and wish to unlock it, you can do this in one of two ways.

Get Info

Step 1

Right-click the folder (or click while holding down the "Ctrl" key if you're not using a mouse with right-click functionality) and select the Get Info option from the context menu.

Step 2

Click the box next to the Locked option to remove the check mark from the box and unlock the folder.

Step 3

Click the X at the top left corner of the window to close the Get Info window and save the changes. The file should now be unlocked.

Using the Terminal

Step 1

Click the Finder icon (which looks like a square smiling face) to open a Finder window. Open the Applications folder and then the Utilities application folder. Inside the Utilities folder, double-click the Terminal application icon to launch the terminal.

Step 2

Type "sudo chflags -R nouchg" (without the quotes) in the Terminal window and press the space bar. Drag the folder you wish to unlock into the Terminal window and press the "Enter" key.

Step 3

Enter your account password when prompted and press the "Enter" key to unlock the file. Click the X at the upper left of the window to close the Terminal window and save the changes.

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