everyday mac tools

Where to keep tax returns, passports and ID scans on a Mac

· 7 min read

The simplest way to store sensitive documents securely on a Mac is one folder that holds all of them, locked with a password, on a Mac with FileVault turned on. Then clear out the stray copies in Downloads, on the Desktop and in Mail, back the folder up to an encrypted disk, and send other people copies only as password-protected PDFs. Each step closes a different gap, and none of them takes long.

Store sensitive documents securely on a Mac: start with one folder

Sensitive papers arrive from everywhere: a tax return from a portal, a passport photographed on your phone, a scan for a rental application, a statement attached to an email. Left where they land, each copy is exposed on its own. Spotlight indexes it, Finder Recents lists it, Quick Look previews it, and iCloud may upload it.

Make one folder and give it a plain name, because a folder’s name stays visible even when its contents are locked. Papers works; Passports and bank details announces itself. Inside, a few subfolders are plenty: Tax, ID, Property, Medical, Insurance.

Then decide where it lives. If Desktop & Documents Folders is switched on in your iCloud Drive settings (System Settings, your name, iCloud, then iCloud Drive, labeled Drive on some versions), anything in Documents is also stored in iCloud. That can be a reasonable choice, but make it a choice. A folder created directly in your home folder stays on the Mac.

Lock the folder

Three approaches work, and they differ mostly in daily use.

An encrypted disk image, built into macOS. In Disk Utility, choose File, New Image, Image from Folder, pick the folder, set Encryption to 256-bit AES and Image Format to read/write so you can add files later. You get a file that asks for a password and then opens like a drive. Two catches. The original folder is left where it was, unencrypted, so delete it once the image opens. And when you open the image, macOS offers to remember the password in your keychain; leave that unticked, or anyone at your logged-in Mac can open it without knowing the password. Eject the image when you are done, because it stays open until you do.

Locking the folder in place. Hushbox turns the folder into a locked item where it sits: right-click it in Finder and choose Lock with Hushbox. It opens with Touch ID or your Hushbox password and locks again by itself when the screen locks, the Mac sleeps or after an idle time you choose. While locked, its contents stay out of Spotlight, Finder Recents and Quick Look. The original is deleted only after the locked copy has been checked byte for byte. Underneath, it is an AES-256 encrypted disk image of the kind Disk Utility makes, so macOS can still open it without Hushbox. The honest limits: the folder name still shows, there is no password recovery, and copies made before you locked it are not changed.

Passwords on individual PDFs. Fine for two or three files, unmanageable for thirty.

Two things look like protection and are not. Finder’s Locked checkbox in Get Info only stops a file being changed or deleted; anyone can open it. And a password-protected zip made with the standard tools uses old, weak encryption and leaves every file name readable.

FileVault underneath

A locked folder protects your papers while you are logged in and using the Mac. FileVault protects everything on the drive when the Mac is off or stolen, including the stray copies you have not found yet, Mail’s local store and every cache. They cover different moments, so you want both. FileVault or a locked folder? sets out exactly where each one stops.

To check, open System Settings, Privacy & Security and scroll to FileVault, or run fdesetup status in Terminal. While you are in System Settings, set Lock Screen to require your password immediately after sleep or the screen saver, since an unlocked Mac undoes all of the above.

Clear out the stray copies

This is the step people skip, and where most exposure lives.

  • Downloads and the Desktop. Sort by Kind and look for PDFs and images. Move anything worth keeping into the folder, delete the rest and empty the Trash.
  • Mail. A saved attachment is still inside the message. Once the file is in your folder, delete messages you no longer need and use Mailbox, Erase Deleted Items.
  • Messages. A passport photo sent to a family member stays in that conversation on every device signed in to it. Right-click the image in the conversation to delete it.
  • Photos. A phone snap of your passport sits in your library and in iCloud Photos. Export it into the folder, then delete it from Photos and from Recently Deleted. Hide and lock private photos on a Mac covers this step by step.
  • Notes. Scans made with the document scanner in Notes live inside the note, not in a file you can see in Finder.

To hunt for the rest, Terminal’s mdfind searches the same index as Spotlight:

mdfind -name passport
mdfind -onlyin ~/Downloads "tax return"

The first lists every indexed file with “passport” in its name. The second looks through Downloads for files whose name or text mentions tax returns.

For new scans, skip the stray copy entirely. Open the unlocked folder in Finder, right-click an empty area, choose Import from iPhone or iPad, then Scan Documents. You scan with your iPhone, tap Save, and the PDF lands in that folder without passing through Photos.

Backups that do not undo the work

Encrypt the backup disk. When you add a disk in System Settings, General, Time Machine, turn on Encrypt Backup. Otherwise the drive is a readable copy of your papers for anyone who picks it up.

Remember what the backups already hold. A locked folder backs up locked, and an encrypted disk image backs up encrypted. But backups made before you locked the folder still contain the plain files, until Time Machine thins them out or you delete those backups.

Keep a copy somewhere else. A second encrypted drive kept at a relative’s house covers fire and theft.

Store the password twice. Put it in a password manager and somewhere offline. A locked folder you can no longer open is the same as a lost one, and every backup of it is locked too.

Sending a copy safely

An accountant needs last year’s return; a landlord wants an ID scan. Send a copy, never the original or the folder.

  1. Export only the pages that are needed as a PDF.
  2. Add an open password in Preview with File, Export, Permissions, and send the password by text message rather than in the same email. Password protect a PDF on a Mac walks through it.
  3. For ID scans, mark the copy with its purpose. Open the image in Preview, use the Markup toolbar’s Text tool to add a line such as “Copy for tenancy application, September 2026”, and save a duplicate. On an image file, the text becomes part of the picture.
  4. If the recipient offers a secure upload portal, use it instead of email.
  5. Delete the exported copy afterward. Your Sent mailbox still holds one.

Questions

Is it safe to keep scans of my passport on my Mac? Yes, with FileVault on, the scans in a locked folder and the screen set to lock immediately. The realistic risks are forgotten copies and careless sending, not the scan in its locked folder.

Should I keep tax returns in iCloud Drive? It depends on how much you trust your Apple Account’s security. Under standard data protection Apple holds the keys to iCloud Drive; Advanced Data Protection makes it end-to-end encrypted. An encrypted disk image stays encrypted wherever it is stored.

What is the best free way to store sensitive documents securely on a Mac? FileVault, an encrypted disk image made in Disk Utility, an encrypted Time Machine disk and a password manager. The only cost is remembering to eject the image.