The Mac Privacy & Security Checklist

Most Mac privacy advice is either fear-mongering or a wall of Terminal commands. This is neither: a practical checklist of the settings that genuinely reduce what your Mac shares and who can get into it, each with a step-by-step guide. Work top to bottom — the first few matter most.

1. Lock the door

The most likely privacy breach is someone simply opening your unlocked Mac. Require a password immediately after sleep, remove the grace period, and learn to lock the screen instantly when you step away.

2. Cut the data your Mac sends

macOS shares more than you'd expect by default. Turn off analytics, personalized ads, Siri suggestions, and crash reporting. Then stop Spotlight from sending your searches to Apple and fetching web results.

3. Control location and Handoff

Review Location Services — plenty of apps request it without needing it — and turn off Handoff if you don't use it between devices.

4. Audit app permissions

Check which apps can access your camera, mic, screen, and files. This is the highest-value five minutes on the whole list — revoke anything that doesn't need what it's holding.

5. Harden iCloud

Turn on Advanced Data Protection for end-to-end encryption, use Hide My Email for burner addresses, and understand what iCloud Private Relay does and doesn't hide. If you're privacy-minded about local files, keep sensitive documents off iCloud.

6. Prepare for loss or theft

Set up protection in case your Mac is lost or stolen before you need it, and make sure no one can use it while you're away.

Every setting here is a one-click, reversible toggle in Mainspring — no Terminal, no guesswork, and an undo button for all of it.