Ctrl+click or right-click the drive in the Finder sidebar and select the Encrypt option.

To encrypt a drive, simply open the Finder and connect the drive to your Mac. It functions like BitLocker To Go on Enterprise editions of Windows, but it’s available to all Mac users. The contents of the drive will be encrypted with a passphrase you choose, and no one will be able to access them without that passphrase. With macOS you can also encrypt entire external drives.

This can take days, so consider keeping your Mac awake overnight. Once you’re done configuring FileVault, your Mac will begin encrypting your drive in the background. Keep this key somewhere safe, because it’s the only way you can recover your files should you lose access to the local accounts on your Mac with permission to decrypt the drive. If you’d rather not tie your encryption to a (potentially hackable) online account, that’s not a problem: you can opt for a recovery key instead. This allows you to regain access to the drive if you forget the username and password for the local account on your Mac. Click the “Turn On FileVault” option to enable and configure FileVault.īy default, FileVault will ask you for your Apple ID. To enable FileVault, click the Apple icon on the menu at the top of your screen, select System Preferences, and click the Security & Privacy icon. Your drive will be locked again when you shut down your Mac.

When you turn on your Mac, you’ll have to sign in with one of those user accounts before your drive is unlocked. You can choose which user accounts have the ability to unlock your disk.

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