I want to use File Sharing, but I don't want the whole world to see what's in my Public folder. How can I do this?

Answer

By default, when File Sharing is turned on in Mac OS X, anybody can connect to the Public folders of users on your Mac. To disable this functionality:

1. Navigate to your home directory (or to the home directory of the user's Public folder that you want to disable).
2. Select the Public icon by clicking on it.
3. From the File menu, select Show Info.
4. In the Public Info window, select Privileges from the first pop-up menu, right below the icon.
5. Then choose None from the "Everyone" pop-up menu.
6. Click Apply to make sure guests cannot connect to any folders you have created inside the Public folder.
7. Repeat steps 1-6 if you want to disable file sharing guests from accessing other users' Public folders on your computer.

For more information on File Sharing in Mac OS X, see Apple's Knowledge Base, Mac OS X: File Sharing, Article ID: 106461.