Understanding Locked and Stationery Pad Files

You can set a file to be Locked or to be a Stationery Pad, but it can be hard to understand what these settings do. Locked files are not protected or encrypted in any way. Instead, they are simply harder to accidentally change or delete. Stationery Pads are files that act like simple templates.

Comments: 3 Responses to “Understanding Locked and Stationery Pad Files”

    Stephen Froggatt
    8 years ago

    Excellent tutorial as always, Gary! I never realised that Stationery Pad files were still a thing in OS X - I thought they disappeared round about System 6 or 7, way back in the old days! Thanks for the heads up on this - I think this could be very useful.

    Linda Taylor
    8 years ago

    Will both of these react the same way if you share your file with someone who downloads it to their own computer? And can that person 'Get info' and change the file as you demonstrated? If so, this doesn't really seem o be secure except to protect yourself from yourself. Not sure this is a feature I'd use, but at least I found out what they're used for and I thank you for that!!

    8 years ago

    Linda: those settings should stay when you send the file, and yes they can easily be changed by someone else. As I point out in the video, these are not for security at all.

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