How to Enable System Integrity Protection in Mac OS

How to Enable System Integrity Protection in Mac OS

Modern versions of Mac OS ship with System Integrity Protection (SIP) enabled by default, which aims to protect critical system folders by locking them down, and the vast majority of Mac users should always keep SIP enabled for that added protection. Nonetheless sometimes Mac users must in order to modify something within a protected system directory for various reasons, and some may leave the feature off either intentionally or accidentally. All Mac users should have SIP enabled for the security benefits it offers, thus if you need to turn on the System Integrity Protection feature, youre in the right place. This tutorial will show you how to enable System Integrity Protection (SIP) in MacOS. Note: unless you (or someone else) had previously turned off System Integrity Protection, then SIP is almost certainly enabled by default on your Mac. Specifically, SIP is enabled by default on macOS Mojave, High Sierra, MacOS Sierra, and Mac OS X El Capitan, and presumably in all future software versions as well. If you arent sure whether or not SIP is enabled or disabled on a particular Mac, you can manually before beginning. There is obviously no point in trying to enable SIP if SIP is already enabled. Enabling System Integrity Protection on a Mac requires rebooting the computer into Recovery Mode, here are the steps: The Mac will now reboot as usual, starting back up with SIP enabled again. Once MacOS boots up, SIP should be enabled. You can confirm this by via command line, or through the System Information tools. If its not enabled, you likely entered the syntax incorrectly or followed some other step wrong. Note: if you want to enable SIP but not reboot immediately out of Recovery Mode, you can also just type: Just remember, the Mac must reboot before SIP is actually enabled again. System Integrity Protection, or SIP, and sometimes called rootless, locks down several system level directories in Mac OS to prevent modification of important system files, components, apps, and resources, even if the user account has administrator or root access (thus the occasional rootless reference). Thus, SIP aims to increase security and privacy on the Mac, and to prevent unauthorized or unintentional access or modification of critical system files and components. The system directories that are protected and locked down by SIP in macOS include: /System/, /usr/ with the exception of /usr/local/, /sbin/, /bin/, and /Applications/ for apps that are preinstalled by default in macOS and necessary for the usage of the operating system including apps like Safari, Terminal, Console, Activity Monitor, Calendar, etc. From a practical standpoint, SIP prevents users from , from deleting default applications, and from various apps or scripts from being able to install, modify, or delete things in places where they shouldnt be. When SIP is enabled, those activities can not take place. However, any Mac user can by using a similar method to what is described above, though thats usually only necessary for advanced Mac users for very specific reasons. So SIP should always be left enabled, but its not the only security feature the Mac has that should be used. Keeping the stricter default in place, using strong passwords, avoiding sketchy software and sketchy websites, and are also all important security precautions to take on a Mac. And dont forget to as well! Do you have have any tips, suggestions, or thoughts about System Integrity Protection for Macs? Share them with us!