Full Disk Access lets an app read data macOS normally protects, such as Mail, Messages, Safari and Time Machine backups; the list is in System Settings › Privacy & Security › Full Disk Access. Backup, security and some developer tools need it, so turn it off for any app you don't recognize or no longer use.
Last reviewed · 3 sources
Where to find it
System Settings › Privacy & Security › Full Disk Access
Apple describes Full Disk Access as access to all files on your Mac, including data from other apps (for example Mail, Messages, Safari and Home), data from Time Machine backups, and certain administrative settings for all users. Without it, macOS asks before an app opens protected places such as Desktop, Documents and Downloads, or keeps it out of other apps' data entirely. It doesn't let an app change macOS itself: System Integrity Protection still guards /System and the apps that come with your Mac.
Choose Apple menu > System Settings, then click Privacy & Security in the sidebar.
Apps are added here when you add them yourself or an installer asks you to. Each switch says whether that app has the access now.
Backup software, security tools, terminal apps and disk utilities need it. Anything else is worth a closer look.
In Full Disk Access, turn off the switch next to the app, or select it and remove it. macOS asks for your password or Touch ID.
A backup tool without Full Disk Access skips protected data. If you rely on it, turn it back on.
CoreLock asks for Full Disk Access itself, because reading the macOS permission database needs it. With it, CoreLock's free Privacy report lists the other apps that hold Full Disk Access and flags any still held by apps you've deleted. It shows what macOS granted, not what an app read.
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Files & Folders covers named locations: Desktop, Documents, Downloads, iCloud Drive and network volumes, with a switch for each. Full Disk Access also covers other apps' data, such as Mail, Messages and Safari, Time Machine backups and some settings for every user. Prefer Files & Folders when an app only needs your documents.
Only for commands that read protected places, such as ~/Library/Mail or a Time Machine backup. Most development work runs fine without it. Anything you run in Terminal inherits Terminal's access, so grant it when you need it and turn it off after.
Most need it to read protected locations. CoreLock asks for it so its Privacy report can read the permissions macOS has granted; its free malware check looks at the Downloads folder, not the whole disk.
The Privacy report and the scan are free, with no account, on macOS 13 or later.
Apple silicon build 2.0.7 · Intel Mac?
For your Mac, not this phone ·
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