Can I make a smart folder that has all protected docs in it?

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Level 1

7 points

Can I make a smart folder that has all protected docs in it?

This is a totally low priority problem. Scattered over my Mac I have a couple of important documents that I have protected. I need them as templates for my work. Every time I lose quite some time finding them. So I was thinking: is there an option to make a smart folder so that every time I protect a file it automatically goes in that specific folder? If I protect a file, it usually is a template that I will have to use several times. So it would be very handy if that would be centralised automatically If it's not possible it's not the end of the world, but it would be very handy and I can't figure it out.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 15.3

Posted on Feb 11, 2025 1:09 PM

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Answer 1

Barney-15E

Level 10

122,138 points

Feb 15, 2025 4:05 PM in response to Paul Harts

I finally got a chance to look into it and there doesn't seem to be any Spotlight Metadata for the Locked state of a file.

You could find them in Terminal with the find command, but that could not be used as a Smart Folder.

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Answer 2

Barney-15E

Level 10

122,138 points

Feb 13, 2025 3:52 AM in response to Paul Harts

I haven’t had a chance to check, but you could try looking in the other items in the search criteria.

I can’t remember, but I think the first item comes up as “kind“. At the bottom of that pop-up menu should be something like other. There are a lot of items in there and I don’t know if “locked“ is one of them.

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Answer 3

Paul Harts Author

Level 1

7 points

Feb 13, 2025 12:34 AM in response to Barney-15E

If you save a file, you have the option to check box right next to the location. If you check the check box, it will not be possible to alter the text without checking the check box. Don't know exactly what this is called in English, which is my third language, but I've made a screenshot so that should kill all confusion. Hope this helps.

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Answer 4

Paul Harts Author

Level 1

7 points

Feb 13, 2025 12:33 AM in response to Barney-15E

If you save a file, you have the option to check box right next to the location. If you check the check box, it will not be possible to alter the text without checking the check box. Don't know exactly what this is called in English, which is my third language, but I've made a screenshot so that should kill all confusion. Hope this helps.

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Answer 5

Barney-15E

Level 10

122,138 points

Feb 11, 2025 5:14 PM in response to Paul Harts

What do you mean by “protected?”

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