Though it’s true the Apple operating system macOS does not offer any native features for password protecting ZIP files, you can however protect the directories – in which ZIP files are located – as image files. To do so, follow these steps: Step 1: Create a new folder in Finder – macOS’ standard file manager. Note: If you turn on a Convert and Protect option after you add files to your Zip, you can still apply your Encryption and Conversion settings for all or just some of the files in your Zip by choosing “Apply to selected files in the Zip” from the Options button in the Actions panel.

• Mac Zip And Password Protection
• Mac Zip File Password Protect
• Mac Zip Password Protect
• Can You Password Protect A Zip File On A Mac

You can password protect your ZIP files to prevent suspicious intrusions. This helps in a situation where there are multiple users of your computer system but what happens when you forget the password and cannot access data containing in it? Or you download a file from internet, and it is password protected. We are here to guide you through this situation. There are multiple methods to unlock zip file. Here we will be introducing methods with high success rate.

1. WinRAR is one of the leading programmes to compress files on Windows, Mac, and Android devices.The latest version of free WinRAR download supports various file formats, including ZIP, RAR, TAR, ISO, LZH, CAB, ARJ, UUE, ACE, and RAR5.
2. If you elected to encrypt the files, you will also have to enter a password in the Encrypt dialog. You also have the option to use WinZip Express. To do this, select your files in a Zip file and click the Zip and Share button on the Unzip/Share tab. WinZip Express will allow you to create your Zip file from the selected files and provide.

Method 1: Unlock ZIP File with ZIP Password Unlocker

If you don't have time to try multiple methods for 100% success, then it is highly recommended for you to use PassFab for ZIP without any second thought. This ZIP file password unlocker recovers password for all kind of encrypted ZIP files without damaging data. Its decryption technique is so vast that it can decrypt AES algorithm protected file as well. It uses 3 different efficient procedures to recover your ZIP file password:

• Brute-force Attack: Try all possible combinations, which takes more time.
• Brute-force with Mask Attack: Customize numbers, symbols, characters, etc.
• Dictionary Attack: Quickly find the password from inbuilt or customized dictionary.

Video Tutorial: How to Use PassFab for ZIP Unlocker

• Download and install PassFab for ZIP from its official site.

• Launch the program. Click on the ‘Add’ button and browse your ZIP file.

• Now select the appropriate attack type from the options available.

  a. Choose ‘Brute Force Attack’ if you can’t remember a single word of your password. It will try all possible combination of password.

  b. Choose ‘Brute Force with Mass Attack' if you have some clue about your password. It will pop multiple options. Select that are relevant to your lost password and click ‘OK'.

  c. Choose ‘Dictionary Attack’ if you have password dictionary with you. This will frequently recover your lost password. Add the dictionary and click ‘OK’.

• Now click the Start button. Once the password is recovered, you will be displayed the password.

Method 2. Unlock ZIP File Password Online without Password

There are multiple online websites that offers free ZIP file decryption facility. Online services always come with powerful computing resources to makes use of distributed virtual private servers across different locations. The interface of online ZIP decrypting sites are straightforward.

Navigate to the site and it will ask about your encrypted ZIP file. Browse that file. Sometimes you will be asked to enter your email address to receive password through email. Then click proceed. You will be notified if the password is recovered. But this method is not recommended because your data might be sensitive and it is not safe to upload these files on public sites.

Method 3. ZIP File Password Unlock with Notepad without Software

You can also unlock your password protected ZIP file with notepad. This is the easiest and little bit complex method to unlock your password protected ZIP file. This method works by using a batch file system. If you are unaware of basic things, this method might seems to be hard for you. If you are good with that, here is complete guide for this method:

• Open your ZIP file with notepad by right clicking on ZIP file and then clicking “Open with”. After that choose Notepad from the given program list.

• A complex code will appear in front of you. Press “Ctrl+F” and find “Ûtà” and replace it with “5³tà’.

• After saving the file exit from notepad and open your password protected file without any password.

Method 4. Guess Your Correct ZIP Password (Free)

ZIP file is widely used extension to archive different files for storage or transmission purpose. It is the most convenient way to reduce the size of your files by compressing it into one ZIP file. Mostly, 7ZIP or WinZip free software are used to access or archive these files. Along with compression zip files also comes with high security and privacy.

To guess your zip password might sound very simple method but most of the time we don’t consider this as an option. This should be your first option while recovering any password. There are series of pattern that people use to set password. Here take a look at some of them:

• Most common password used for protecting ZIP file are 111111, 123456, a1b2c3d4, welcome and so on. Try the most common you can use to protect your file.
• Often nickname of your child, spouse, mother, father or your childhood name can be used as password.
• Try to use the pet or your first car name or you high school best friend name.
• Try to enter the name of your favorite things like food, book, movie, song, singer, actor etc.

You can go on with many attempts as there is no restriction for attempting different passwords. If none of them works go on with some other methods mentioned above.

Bottom Line

So next time you meet someone with encrypted ZIP file you can guide him or her to unlock ZIP file procedures. There are multiple other third-party software available that might claim to recover your ZIP file password but PassFab for ZIP is tested and recommended by us. It keeps your privacy and data safe from foreign intrusions. Use PassFab for ZIP and you won't be disappointed.

Would you like to prevent unauthorized people from accessing sensitive data that you store on data servers and shared computers, or send via email? Then it’s best to use password-protected archive files, like those in ZIP format.

You can password protect ZIP files on both Windows 10 and macOS. However, the range of functions provided by your system’s password-protection tools are limited. For this reason, we recommend using external software.

Password Protect ZIP Files with Windows System Tools

Microsoft Windows 10 provides a feature for password protecting files and folders which is integrated in the operating system. Windows password protection can also protect ZIP files from unauthorized access, without having to use third-party software. To activate password protection for your files, follow these steps:

Mac Zip And Password Protection

Windows password protection is only available in the editions Microsoft Windows 10 Pro, Education, and Enterprise, not in Windows 10 Home.

Step 1: Using the right mouse button, click on the ZIP file that you would like to password protect.

Step 2: In the shortcut menu, select the “Properties” option to open the file properties.

Mac Zip File Password Protect

Step 3: In the “General” tab, click on “Advanced” in order to open the “Advanced Attribute” dialog window.

Step 4: In the “Advanced Attributes” dialog window, select the check box next to “Encrypt contents to secure data”.

Step 5: Close the “Advanced Attributes” dialog window by clicking on “OK” and save the change in file properties by clicking on “OK” or “Apply”.

The file icon now displays a padlock. This indicates that the corresponding file is password protected. But what does this actually mean?

After you have activated password protection, you’ll note that you can still open the file without a password prompt. File content can also be displayed and processed without changes. Nevertheless, the file is password protected – with a key generated by Windows that is stored in your user account.

You have access to the file as long as you are logged into your user account. By contrast, other users will be denied access. This can be very practical in many situations. However, only in a few application cases does it serve as a password-protected ZIP file. For instance, this feature is not intended for sending password-protected ZIP files. For this, we recommend using a compression program with an encryption feature.

Encrypting File Folders with macOS Standard Tools

Though it’s true the Apple operating system macOS does not offer any native features for password protecting ZIP files, you can however protect the directories – in which ZIP files are located – as image files. To do so, follow these steps:

Step 1: Create a new folder in Finder – macOS’ standard file manager.

Step 2: Relocate all ZIP files that you’d like to protect into the folder you just created.

Step 3: Open the macOS hard drive service program. You can do this via Spotlight search.

Step 4: Click on “File” in the menu bar above and choose “Image from Folder” under “New Image”.

Step 5: Choose the folder you created at the beginning that has the files you wish to protect and click on “Open”.

Step 6: Give the image a name and choose a save location.

Step 7: Choose the type of encryption:

Mac Zip Password Protect

• 128-Bit-AES encryption (recommended)
• 256-Bit-AES encryption (more secure, but slower)

Step 8: Enter a password of your choosing and confirm entry by clicking on “Choose”.

Step 9: Make sure that the image format is set to “Compressed” and complete the process by clicking on “Save”.

The encrypted image is created in .dmg format in the save location you specified.

Select the image by double-clicking on it and entering your password to access the password-protected file.

An open .dmg file is displayed as an integrated drive in Finder.

Eject the image via Finder if you are no longer using the protected files. Otherwise, they will remain accessible without a password prompt.

To make sure that your data is protected from unauthorized access, you should delete the unencrypted original data.

Password Protecting ZIP Files with Third-Party Software

Since the options for each operating system are limited, we recommend using a third-party program. For example, we have chosen 7-Zip, a free packer application with a high compression rate and reliable encryption. It creates archive files in the 7z, TAR, WIM, and ZIP formats. The program’s encryption feature is available for 7z and ZIP files.

Follow these steps to create a password-protected archive file for any file folder of your choosing:

Step 1: Download the open-source 7-Zip compression program from the provider’s website and install the software on your system.

Can You Password Protect A Zip File On A Mac

7-Zip is automatically integrated into the Windows Explorer shortcut menu.

Step 2: Using the right mouse button, click on the file folder that you would like to encrypt.

Step 3: Choose “7-Zip” in the shortcut menu and click on “Add to archives…” in the pop-up menu.

Step 4: In the packer program’s configuration mask, you’ll find the required settings for the save location, archive format, compression strength, compression method, and encryption.

Enter a password, then enter it again.

In archive format, 7z is available with AES-256-bit encryption. This can also be used for password protecting ZIP files. What’s more, the latter can be encrypted with the ZipCrypto algorithm.

Opening an archive file that has been password protected with 7-Zip requires you to enter a password.

Windows users often utilize the WinZip packer program for password protecting ZIP files. The programs WinRAR, Peazip, Bandizip, and Ashampoo Zip Free also offer encryption features. We provide you with a detailed comparison of the range of features in our article on the most popular WinZip alternatives.