macOS has a reputation for being secure out of the box. And compared to some alternatives, it is. But the default settings leave plenty of room for improvement — especially when it comes to privacy.

This guide walks you through hardening your Mac, from disk encryption to app permissions. Most steps take just a few minutes and don’t require any technical expertise.

FileVault: Encrypt Your Disk

If someone steals your Mac, they can remove the disk and read your files — unless the disk is encrypted. FileVault encrypts your entire startup volume with XTS-AES-128 encryption.