If you want to limit who can open and view your Keynote document, you can protect it with a password. Anyone who receives the document from you will need to know the password in order to open it for editing or viewing, or to remove or change the document’s password.

Another way to password-protect a document is to require a password to stop the presentation when it’s playing. If a slideshow is password protected in this way, you must provide the name and password for the administrator of the computer on which the slideshow is running.

To add or change a password on a Keynote document:
  1. Click Inspector in the toolbar, and then click the Document inspector button.

  2. In the Document inspector, click Document.

  3. Select the checkbox for “Require password to open.”

    If you’re changing an existing password, click Change Password, and then type the current document password.

  4. Type the password you want to use in the Password field.

    Passwords can consist of almost any combination of numerals and capital or lowercase letters and several of the special keyboard characters. Passwords with combinations of letters, numbers, and other characters are generally considered more secure.

    If you want help to create an unusual or strong password, click the button with the key-shaped icon next to the Password field to open the Password Assistant and use it to help you create a password. You can select a type of password in the pop-up menu, depending on which password characteristics are most important to you.

    A password appears in the Suggestion field; its strength ("stronger” passwords are more difficult to break) is indicated by the length and green color of the Quality bar. If you like the suggested password, copy it and paste it into the Password field.

    If you don’t like the suggested password, you can choose a different password from the Suggestion field pop-up menu, increase the password length by dragging the slider, or type your own.

  5. Type the password again in the Verify field.

  6. Type a reminder for yourself in the Password Hint field.

    The password hint appears if you try to open a document three times with the wrong password.

  7. Click Set Password.

  8. Press Command-S to save the presentation.

To require a password for stopping a presentation:

In the Document pane of the Document inspector, select the checkbox for “Require password to exit show,” and then press Command-S to save the presentation.

When stopping a presentation that requires a password, just type the name and password of the computer’s administrator in the field that appears after you try to stop the presentation. For details about stopping a presentation, see Stopping a Presentation. If the presentation is moved to a different computer, you must enter the name and password of that computer’s administrator to stop the presentation.

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