Lock your notes on Mac
If you use upgraded iCloud notes or notes stored on your Mac, you can lock notes you want to keep private, so only people who know the password can view them. You can use the login password for your Mac to lock and unlock notes or create a custom password. If your Mac or Magic Keyboard has Touch ID, you can also choose to use that option to unlock your notes.
When you unlock locked notes, the lock icon next to the notes and in the toolbar appears unlocked 
. When you close all locked notes, the lock icon appears closed 
.
WARNING: If you forget your custom password and can’t unlock your notes with Touch ID on your Mac or Magic Keyboard, you can’t view your locked notes. Apple can’t help you regain access to those locked notes, although you can create a new password that lets you password-protect any notes that you want to lock going forward. See Change your password for locked notes.
Set a password to lock notes
Depending on where your notes are stored, you can choose to lock your notes with the login password for your Mac or create a custom password to use just for locked notes.
In the Notes app
on your Mac, choose Notes > Settings, then click Set Password. If you have multiple accounts, first click the “Locked notes” pop-up menu and choose the account you want to set a password for.Note: You can also create a password when you lock a note for the first time.
Do one of the following:
Use the login password for your Mac for locked notes: Click Use Login Password. (If your notes are in an iCloud account, you must have two-factor authentication enabled and turn on iCloud Keychain in System Settings to use your login password for locked notes. If you have additional devices, they must be using iOS 16 or macOS Ventura to see notes that are locked using your login password.)
Create a custom password for locked notes: Click Create Password, then enter a password in the Password field. Enter the password again in the Verify field, enter a hint, then click Set Password.
Note: It’s highly recommended that you create a hint.
If your Mac or Magic Keyboard has Touch ID, select Use Touch ID to be able to use your fingerprint to unlock your notes.
Lock a note
After you set up a password, you can lock your notes.
In the Notes app
on your Mac, select the note you want to lock.Click the Lock button
, choose Lock Note, then enter the password. (You can also use Touch ID on your Mac or Magic Keyboard if you turned on that option in Notes settings.) If you haven’t created a password yet, you’re prompted to do so.If you’ve already entered the password during this session of Notes, you don’t need to enter the password.
After you lock a note for the first time, all locked notes in that account are unlocked so you can easily view them.
Unlock a note
If you want to temporarily view the content of a locked note, you can unlock it.
In the Notes app
on your Mac, select a locked note.When prompted, enter the password. (You can also use Touch ID on your Mac or Magic Keyboard if you turned on that option in Notes settings.)
After you enter your password, all locked notes in that account are unlocked, so you can easily view them without entering the password, as long as you’re working in Notes.
Close locked notes
If you want to immediately hide the content of a locked note, you can close your locked notes.
In the Notes app
on your Mac, select a locked note.Click the Lock button
, then choose Close All Locked Notes.
If you don’t close locked notes, they’re closed automatically after a period of inactivity or when you quit Notes.
Remove a lock
If you don’t want to hide the content of a locked note anymore, you can remove the lock.
In the Notes app
on your Mac, select the note you want to remove the lock from.Click the Lock button
, choose Remove Lock, then enter the password. (You can also use Touch ID on your Mac or Magic Keyboard if you turned on that option in Notes settings.)If you’ve already entered the password during this session of Notes, you don’t need to enter the password.
If you can’t lock a note
You can’t lock any of the following:
A note you’ve shared with other people
A note that has a video, audio file, PDF or document attached. Only tables, images, drawings, scanned documents, maps or web attachments can be included in a locked note.
A note that contains tags
A note stored in an iCloud account that hasn’t been upgraded. See About using iCloud Notes.