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For Hushbox 3.0.3

The questions people ask most, answered. If yours is not here, write to us and a person answers.

Opening a locked item

Double-click the locked item, or right-click it and choose Unlock. Then use Touch ID or your Hushbox password. A folder opens in its own Finder window. A file opens in its app.

The contents open in a private encrypted space that Spotlight never indexes, so nothing unencrypted ever sits on your disk.

Locking it again

Choose Lock Now from the Hushbox menu bar icon, or right-click the item and choose Lock Now. Hushbox also locks by itself when the screen locks, when the Mac sleeps, or after 5, 15, 30 or 60 minutes idle. You pick the idle time in Hushbox Settings.

If an app still has unsaved work in the item, Hushbox asks first. It never force-closes it.

Taking the lock off

Remove Lock turns a locked item back into normal files, with the exact original name.

Opening a locked item without Hushbox

Every locked item is an AES-256 encrypted disk image, the same kind macOS makes itself. So macOS can open it with no help from Hushbox:

  1. In Finder, select the locked item and choose File > Get Info. Under Name & Extension you can see its full name, which ends in .hushlock. Finder normally hides that part.
  2. Change .hushlock to .sparsebundle and press Return. If Finder asks, choose Use .sparsebundle.
  3. Double-click the item and enter your Hushbox password.

macOS opens it as an encrypted disk image, without Hushbox. Eject it in Finder when you are done.

I forgot my password

There is no back door and no password recovery. We cannot open a locked item for you, and we cannot reset the password.

Try the exact capitalization, spaces and keyboard layout you used, and check your password manager.

If you changed your password, Hushbox keeps the older ones, but only to open older copies of an item, such as a Time Machine restore.

The honest limits

  • Each locked item uses about 33 MB of extra space. If you have lots of small files, put them in a folder and lock the folder, rather than locking each file.
  • Copies made before locking are not changed. That includes copies in Time Machine and in iCloud's Recently Deleted.
  • Names can still show. A locked item keeps its name in Finder, so Taxes 2025.pdf shows as Taxes 2025. Other apps' Open Recent menus may also remember file names.
  • Some things cannot be locked. Hushbox won't lock items marked Locked in Finder, system folders, apps, or whole drives.

After the trial

Unlocking always stays free, even after the 24-hour trial, so your files are never held hostage. To lock new items after the trial, buy a license for $9. It covers 2 Macs, with free updates.

Talk to a person

Email hey@everydaymactools.com with your macOS version, your Hushbox version, and the exact message you see. Never send us your password or a private file.