Encrypting your external drives can help protect your data from peering eyes. No matter what type of external drive you have -- whether it's a thumb drive or a USB-connected platter-based one  -- you can encrypt it and seal its contents right from within the Finder.

To begin, plug in the external drive into your Mac and wait for it to be recognized by the Finder. Once it appears in the Finder sidebar (or on the Desktop), right-click on the drive and select “Encrypt [drive name]”.

After doing this, a pop up will guide you through the encryption process. In this view, you will need to enter an encryption password, verify the password, and specify a required password hint. When done, select the “Encrypt” button to begin the encryption process. During the encryption process, do not unplug your drive from your Mac.

After the encryption process has completed and you eject the drive, upon reconnection you will notice some changes. When the device appears in the Finder, clicking it will not automatically mount it as before. Instead, you will be required to enter the password specified during the encryption process.

Cory Bohon is a freelance technology writer, indie Mac and iOS developer, and amateur photographer. Follow this article's author, Cory Bohon on Twitter.