How to Lock Photos on Mac

Lock Photos so it will not open without Touch ID or your password. Four steps, about a minute.

Lock Photos on Mac, step by step

Download Cloak from trycloak.app and open it. Set up Touch ID or a password the first time it asks. There is no account.
Click the plus button under Locked apps, tick Photos, and click Lock.
Quit Photos if it is open.
Open Photos again. Cloak now asks for Touch ID before it will launch.

Your Mac password works as a fallback by default. If other people know that password, open Cloak's Settings, turn off "Let my Mac password unlock Cloak", and set a Cloak password instead.

Who this is for

For shared family Macs, where your Photos library, history and recommendations are personal even if they are not secret.

What Screen Time can't do

Apple has no way to lock a single app on a Mac. The closest thing is Screen Time, which puts a daily time limit on Photos. A limit is not a lock. Photos opens normally until the time runs out, the Screen Time passcode is four digits, and anyone who knows it can click Ignore Limit for the rest of the day. It was built to manage screen time, not privacy. Cloak asks for Touch ID or your password every single time Photos opens.

Why lock Photos at all

Your Photos library is the most personal archive on your Mac, full of family pictures, screenshots, and moments meant for your eyes only. Because what you watch, read, and listen to can be surprisingly telling in the wrong company, Photos is exactly the kind of app worth putting behind Touch ID.

Why a Mac-level lock beats Photos's own settings

These apps rarely offer any privacy lock of their own, because they are not designed around secrecy. Putting a Mac-level lock in front means your library stays private even though the app itself never had a password.

Frequently asked questions

Does locking Photos with Cloak slow it down?

No. Cloak only steps in at launch to ask for Touch ID. Once Photos is unlocked it runs exactly as it normally would, with no background overhead.

Will I still get Photos notifications while it is locked?

Notification behaviour is controlled by macOS, not by Cloak. If you want Photos alerts hidden too, pair the lock with hiding the app, or turn off previews for Photos in System Settings under Notifications.

What happens if Touch ID is not available?

By default Cloak offers your Mac login password as a fallback, so you can still open Photos on a Mac without a Touch ID sensor or if your finger is not recognised. If other people know your Mac password, you can turn that fallback off and use a separate Cloak password instead.

Can I lock Photos with Screen Time instead?

Screen Time sets a time limit, not a lock. Photos opens normally until the limit is reached, and the limit can be ignored for the day by anyone who knows the four-digit passcode. Cloak asks for Touch ID every time.

How to lock Photos on your Mac