Review and edit any users and groups, as necessary. Go back to System Preferences, then click Users & Groups. Go back to System Preferences, then click Touch ID.Ĭheck the box for the items that you want to use Touch ID for. Go back to System Preferences, then click Wallet & Apple Pay.Īdd only the cards that you need to use on your Mac. Go back to System Preferences, then click Internet Accounts.Ĭlick through each account and ensure that it’s syncing only the data you want synced. If you ever share the screen of your Mac, in person or online, consider unchecking the box for Show notification preview. What could a person learn about you if they could see messages, calendar reminders, and other notifications appear on your screen when you’re away from your Mac? I recommend adjusting your settings to not reveal such sensitive data.įor each app that has notifications that could reveal sensitive data, set Show notification preview to when unlocked, or uncheck the box for Show notifications on lock screen to not have that app show notifications on the lock screen. Go back to System Preferences, then click Notifications. If you do that, you should also uncheck the box at the bottom of the window, Allow Spotlight Suggestions in Lookup. Although Apple says it does this in a privacy-respecting way, you may want to disable this by unchecking the box for Spotlight Suggestions. Most of these are locally on your Mac, but the Spotlight Suggestions category pulls info from the Internet. You’ll see a list of categories that Spotlight can include in its search results. Go back to System Preferences, then click Spotlight. Siri gives you more privacy than other voice assistants, but if you don’t want to use it (as I don’t), you can uncheck the box for Enable Ask Siri. Go back to System Preferences, then click Siri. This allows you to find, lock, or wipe/erase your Mac remotely, if it becomes broken, lost, or stolen. I recommend keeping to a minimum the data you store in iCloud. I recommend keeping to a minimum the data you store in iCloud.īack on the iCloud screen, uncheck the boxes for any apps that you don’t want to store data in iCloud. Uncheck the boxes for any items that you don’t want to store data in iCloud Drive. You’ll see a list of apps and items that can be stored in iCloud Drive. You may not be able to change some options until you unlock that padlock by clicking it and entering your Mac password. There’s a padlock icon in the bottom left corner of many System Preferences screens. We’ll go through the settings it contains in order. To open the macOS settings, simply open the System Preferences app (a gray gear icon). Improve macOS Security and Privacy Using macOS System Preferences

Change mac security settings