Boring grey folders? Not on your Mac.
hYYa isn’t only an encryptor — it bundles a full Folder Styler for your everyday Finder folders. Give any folder a custom color and an emblem from hundreds of symbols, an emoji, or your own image. Free for your first 3 folders — Pro unlocks unlimited styling. Every color and every emblem is included; the only cap is how many folders you style for free. (Encrypted folders aren’t styled here — they always keep hYYa’s own look. Folder Styler is for your everyday Finder folders.)
Lock what’s private. Add color to everything else.
Your private files, actually locked.
Most "folder lock" apps just hide your files or hang a password screen in front of them — the files themselves stay readable. hYYa Encrypted Folder is different: it wraps your files in real AES-256 encryption using Apple's CryptoKit, and opens them with Touch ID or your Mac password. Until you unlock, they're an opaque, encrypted package — even to someone sitting at your Mac. No hYYa account, no hYYa servers, nothing collected.
Real encryption, effortless to live with.
Actually encrypted — not just hidden
Most folder-lock apps only hide files or add a password screen. hYYa encrypts them with Apple's CryptoKit (AES-256). Until you unlock, they're unreadable — even to someone sitting at your Mac.
Open with a touch
Unlock folders with Touch ID or your Mac password. Your 256-bit key lives in the macOS Keychain, and hYYa asks for Touch ID or your Mac password before it will use it — end-to-end encrypted wherever it goes — not us, not Apple, nobody but you can read it.
A Recovery Key, made by you
Create one recovery key in Settings, keep it somewhere safe, and enter it once on each of your other devices. It opens your folders if you ever forget your passphrase — on every device where you have made or entered it, folders you add later included — and it is the only thing that can, because there is no backdoor here and we cannot reset one for you. Making a new one replaces it on every folder, and the app asks you first. Print a Recovery Kit — a single page holding the key, what it is for and how your folders can still be opened without hYYa — and keep it in a safe, or leave it with someone you trust.
Recently Deleted
Delete something from a folder and it waits in Recently Deleted for 30 days before it goes for good — still encrypted the whole time it sits there. On iPhone and iPad, a whole folder you delete waits there too.
Straight in from anywhere
On iPhone and iPad, the Share sheet drops a file straight into an encrypted folder from whatever app you are in, or bring pictures across from Photos. Siri and Shortcuts can drive it too, so locking a folder can be one spoken sentence.
Any file, any size
Files are encrypted in streaming chunks, so a 50 GB video is as safe — and as smooth — as a text note.
See what is in there
Photos and PDFs show a preview in the list instead of a plain document icon, so you can find what you came for without opening anything. Previews are drawn on your device, live in memory only and are never written to disk — and a very large file simply keeps its ordinary icon.
Search and sort, inside a folder
Find a file in the folder you are looking at, and put everything in order by name, date or size. Every file shows when it last changed, and the folder tells you how many items it holds and how much room they take.
Scan straight in
On iPhone and iPad, scan a document into a folder and the pages become an encrypted PDF inside it directly. It never passes through Photos, so there is no copy left in your library to go back and delete.
Nothing to give you away
Inside a folder, filenames are hidden; stored, it’s an opaque, encrypted package. The photo and PDF previews you see in the list are drawn in memory and never written to disk, so nothing readable is cached anywhere.
Locks itself
Folders re-lock the moment you quit — plaintext is never left lying around.
iCloud sync, end to end
Keep a folder in iCloud and it syncs across your Macs and devices, encrypted the whole way — the files inside and their names travel as ciphertext, and only the folder's own name is visible, because that is its filename. hYYa runs no server and never holds your files. Turn on Apple’s Advanced Data Protection and iCloud itself is end-to-end encrypted too — but your folder does not depend on it, because it is already ciphertext before it leaves the device.
Google Drive sync, end to end
Connect your own Google Drive and keep a folder there; it syncs to your other devices. hYYa encrypts the folder on this device, and only encrypted files are uploaded — Google can see the folder’s name, not what is inside. hYYa can reach only the files it creates in your Drive. Optional, and free.
Open it on your other devices
Set one sync passphrase — once per device, not per folder — and the folders you keep in iCloud or in your Google Drive open on your iPhone, iPad and Mac.
Private by design
No hYYa account. No tracking. No ads. No analytics. Nothing collected means nothing to leak.
A folder that looks like it belongs on your devices.
A few real screens from the Mac and iPhone apps — one for each thing it does. iPad runs the same app.
On iPhone
A lock with no backdoor.
Other apps make privacy a promise they could break — a hidden folder, a password you could reset, files still readable underneath. hYYa makes it math. Your files are encrypted with a key only you can read — end-to-end encrypted wherever it goes, and hYYa asks for Face ID or Touch ID — or your passcode or Mac password — before it will use it. We hold nothing, so there's nothing for us to hand over, leak, or lose.
Free where it counts. One-time for the rest.
Real encryption and folder styling — free to try. Pro is a single purchase — never a subscription.
- Up to 2 encrypted folders
- AES-256 encryption
- Face ID or Touch ID unlock
- In-app file browser
- Folder Styler — style up to 3 folders (all colors & emblems included)
- Auto-lock on quit
- Unlimited folders — encrypt as many as you like
- Unlimited Folder Styler — style every folder, not just 3
- Auto-Lock on sleep or a timer
- Family Sharing — one purchase covers your family group
Frequently Asked Questions
What is hYYa Encrypted Folder?
hYYa Encrypted Folder is a native Mac, iPhone and iPad app that locks your files inside encrypted folders you open with Face ID or Touch ID. It uses real AES-256 encryption powered by Apple's CryptoKit, so your files stay completely unreadable until you unlock them. The core app is free to try, with no hYYa account and no data collection.
Is it actually encrypted, or just hidden?
Actually encrypted. Most "folder lock" apps only hide files or put a password screen in front of them, leaving the files themselves readable. hYYa encrypts them with Apple's CryptoKit (AES-256). Until you unlock a folder, its contents are unreadable — even to someone sitting at your Mac.
Is it free — what's in Pro?
The core app (hYYa Core) is free — up to 2 encrypted folders — with AES-256 encryption, Face ID or Touch ID unlock, an in-app file browser, Folder Styler for up to 3 folders (all colors and emblems), and auto-lock on quit. An optional one-time Pro unlock (not a subscription) adds unlimited folders, unlimited Folder Styler, and Auto-Lock on sleep/timer.
Do I need an account or the internet?
No hYYa account, and no internet connection for everyday use — encryption happens on your device. You need a connection only to sync, through iCloud or your own Google Drive, and both are optional. hYYa runs no server and never holds your files.
How do I unlock my files on a Mac?
With Touch ID — or your Mac password if biometrics aren't available. Your 256-bit encryption key lives in the macOS Keychain, and hYYa asks for Touch ID or your Mac password before it will use it — end-to-end encrypted wherever it goes — not us, not Apple, nobody but you can read it. Unlock a folder with a touch, and it re-locks the moment you quit the app.
What if I lose my Mac or my key?
The encryption is real, so there is no backdoor and no master key — we hold nothing, and we cannot unlock your files or hand them over. That is why you should create a Recovery Key in Settings: one key for all your folders, which you keep somewhere safe and which opens them if you ever forget your passphrase. You create it once and enter it once on each of your other devices, so it covers the folders there too. Make one while you still can, because we cannot make one for you later. Folders you keep in iCloud or in your Google Drive can be opened on your other devices with your sync passphrase; folders you keep only on this device stay only here. Without a Recovery Key, a device that holds the key, or the passphrase, the encrypted files cannot be recovered — by us or by anyone. That is the point of true encryption. Keep your own backups of anything irreplaceable.
Can it sync across my Macs?
Yes. Keep a folder in iCloud, or connect your own Google Drive (optional, and free) and keep one there, and it syncs across your Macs and devices — encrypted the whole way. The files inside and their names travel as ciphertext; only the folder's own name is visible. hYYa can reach only the files it creates in your Drive, runs no server and never holds your files.
Which Macs does it run on?
hYYa Encrypted Folder runs on a Mac with Apple silicon, on macOS 14 Sonoma and later. It is free to download from the Mac App Store, where every build is reviewed and signed by Apple.
Can I open my folders on my iPhone or iPad?
Yes — folders you keep in iCloud or in your Google Drive open on your iPhone, iPad and Mac. You set one sync passphrase — the same one on each device (app-wide, not per folder). On a device that already holds the folder’s key, Face ID or Touch ID — or your passcode or Mac password — is all you need; the passphrase is only asked for when a device doesn’t have the key yet, so it’s a setup and recovery step rather than a daily one. Underneath, the folder’s key is wrapped with your passphrase (PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA256 at 650,000 iterations, then AES-GCM) into a small file that travels inside the folder on iCloud or Google Drive sync — it’s ciphertext, and useless to anyone without your passphrase. Folders you keep on one device only are never wrapped and never sync. The file listing and every file's contents travel as ciphertext; the folder's own name travels in the clear, because it is the package's filename. hYYa runs no server and holds nothing.
How does hYYa Encrypted Folder update?
Through the App Store, like any other app you install from it. hYYa Encrypted Folder is distributed on the App Store only, so new versions arrive automatically if you have automatic app updates switched on, or on demand from the App Store’s Updates tab. The app has no built-in updater, and there is no separate direct download to keep up to date.
What data do you collect?
None. No hYYa account, no tracking, no ads, no analytics. Your files are encrypted on your device and never sent to us — if you connect Google Drive, the encrypted copies go to your own Drive, never to us. Nothing is collected, so there is nothing to leak.