Firewall is software that’s there to protect you so it’s best to keep it turned on. With Firewall running, your Mac takes care of everything — automatically determining whether or not an application is allowed to send or receive traffic from the network. It does this using Code Signing Certificates that are issued to trusted applications. Without the proper certification, an app isn’t allowed through. Think of it like a bouncer on the door of a club — if an app doesn’t have the proper ID it ain’t coming in.
There may be times where Firewall isn't needed, though. Say, for example, you’re playing a video game and don’t want to access the online multiplayer modes. Or antivirus software that you’ve installed is conflicting with Mac’s Firewall application.
Scudo is a hybrid firewall for macOS that combines an inbound network-layer packet filter with an outbound application-layer firewall. Scudo helps protecting your Mac’s network services from unwanted connections from remote computers and improves your privacy and security controlling all apps network activities, allowing you to choose which. The easiest network monitor and firewall for Mac See all network connections — block any app from going online. Powerful privacy for your Mac, usable by anyone. Radio Silence lets you keep a list of apps that aren't allowed to make network connections. Protect your privacy. Whenever an app attempts to connect to a server on the Internet, Little Snitch shows a connection alert, allowing you to decide whether to allow or deny the connection. No data is transmitted without your consent. Your decision will be remembered and applied automatically in the future.
Turning off Firewall solves these problems. But you should be aware that, while switching off Firewall can stop apps on your computer from sending traffic to the network, it provides free reign for incoming connections, leaving you vulnerable to malware and hackers.
Clean your Mac before changing settings
Before we show you how to turn Firewall on and off, it’s recommended that you have a cleanup of apps on your system, particularly those that you’ve previously deleted. If you’ve ever downloaded an app by mistake and uninstalled it or found an app to be malicious and sent it to the Trash, there’s every chance that their remnants still exist on your system.
If that’s the case and you have Firewall switched off, these apps will be able to send and receive traffic, putting your Mac at serious risk.
So, if you plan on playing around with the Firewall settings, use a tool like CleanMyMac X to find and remove any unwanted files that exist on your system. CleanMyMac scans all of your disks and compiles installed apps. It also identifies broken and outdated apps so that you can easily remove them.
Here’s how to use it:
- Download and launch CleanMyMac X. (Free download)
- Click on the Uninstaller tab.
- Click on View All Applications and select any apps that you wish to remove from the list. Apps can be sorted by Name, Size, Selection, and Last Launch Date to help your search.
- Click on Complete Uninstallation from the dropdown menu.
- Click on the Uninstall button and enter your admin password when prompted.
Selected apps will now be completely removed from your system.
Okay, with that out of the way, let’s get into enabling and disabling Firewall.
How to turn on Firewall on Mac
Mac’s Firewall settings can be found in the Security and Privacy preference in System Preferences.
To enable Firewall in macOS and OS X v10.6 or later:
- Go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy.
- Click on the Firewall tab.
- Click on the lock icon in the bottom left corner of the window and enter your administrator password.
- Click Turn On Firewall (or Start in OS X).
In v10.5 of OS X, Firewall is enabled slightly differently:
- Go to System Preferences > Security.
- Click on the Firewall tab.
- Click on the lock icon in the bottom left corner of the window and enter your administrator password.
- Click Start.
How to disable Firewall for Mac
Turning off the Firewall is simply a case of following the same instructions as above and clicking on the Turn Off Firewall button.
To do this, you may need to enter your administrator password.
Firewall advanced settings
By clicking on the Firewall Options button (or Advanced for OS X) you’ll find additional settings that give you more control over how the Firewall performs.
In the list, you’ll see all of the apps that are currently allowed to send and receive network traffic. By clicking on the application to highlight it and hitting the '-' button, you can remove an app from the list. Alternatively, clicking on the '+' button lets you add a new app to the list.
You’ll also be presented with three options:
Block all incoming connections — this blocks all connections other than those required for basic internet services.
Automatically allow signed software to receive incoming connections — this automatically allows software signed with a valid certificate to gain access to the network for sending and receiving traffic.
Enable stealth mode — this prevents Mac from responding to probing requests.
Check the boxes for any settings you'd like to enable and hit OK to confirm.
The great thing about Firewall for Mac is that it takes care of everything for you, regulating the access of apps to the network to keep your system safe from malicious activity. As said, it’s best to keep Firewall turned on and let it does its thing. But if you do plan on turning it off, even just for a short time, run CleanMyMac X prior to doing so to rid your Mac of old apps lurking in the depths of your system.
These might also interest you:
Why block outgoing connections on Mac
People may wish to block outgoing connections for a variety of reasons, with the main one being privacy most of the times. If you’re reading this post, chances are you already tried to block outgoing connections on Mac. While OS X doesn’t have a feature that allows you to do so, blocking outgoing connections in OS X is easier than you may think.
Built-in incoming connections blocking
While you can prevent some applications, programs or services to accept incoming connections by configuring OS X built-in Firewall (Apple Menu => System Preferences => Firewall tab =>Firewall Options => Choose “Block incoming connections”, see the Figure below), to configure outgoing traffic preferences and block outgoing connections on Mac you need to download a third-party application.
How incoming connections preferences can be edited in OS X
How to block outgoing connections on Mac
Firewalls For Mac
Edit: when this tutorial was originally written, TCPBlock was still being updated. After OS X 10.11 (El Capitan), TCPBlock doesn’t work correctly on Mac anymore. If you are running OS X El Capitan or a more recent version of OS X like Sierra, then make sure you check out this updated tutorial. Users running OS X 10.09 (Yosemite) may also encounter some problems (even though it’s rare): in that case we recommend that you read the updated guide.
TCPBlock is a lightweight application that allows you to do exactly that, and you can download it from this link. Once you have gone through the download process, you just need to install it. In order to do this, open the package and follow the instructions. Then make sure you restart the machine you’re working with. You’re now ready to block you’re undesired outgoing connections.
Using TCPBlock is very easy, just follow these steps:
- First of all open the Apple Menu (Apple symbol on the upper left) and select System Preferences.
- Now click on the fresh new TCPBlock icon (it should be at the bottom of the window).
- If you see a closed lock at the bottom, just click on it and authenticate by prompting your password. If not, just skip this step.
- Finally, after you made sure you have the boxes checked as below, you just need to click on the + button, click on Select Application and add the application you wish to block the outgoing connections of.
- If you are having trouble finding an application, remember that you should find it under the “Application” tab you see on the left pane.
That’s it! You can now control all of the outgoing connections on your Mac. In addition you can even block all of the outgoing connections by checking the “Block all outgoing” box on the left if you wish to, just remember that this way you won’t be able to complete the majority of the tasks that require a connection to the internet.
Edit: unfortunately TCPBlock was discontinued. You can still download it, but it is now outdated. If you want to check out the updated tutorials we have on this topic, feel free to follow this link for a 2020 update, or this link for a tutorial focused on Little Snitch.
Mac Os Firewall Apps Windows 10
For any doubt you may have, don’t hesitate to ask in the comments section below. If you found this tutorial helpful, please share 🙂 .