Question

Mac: Encrypt external hard drive - here's how

Answer 1

Mac: Encrypt external hard drive
1st step:
2nd step:
3rd step:
4th step:
5th step:
6th step:
7th step:
8th step:
9th step:
10th step:
11th step:
Use encryption with FileVault

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If you use external hard drives or USB sticks to transport data between Macs, it can be worthwhile to encrypt them. That's how it's done:

External hard drives are a wonderful way to move data from the mostly sparingly dosed internal hard drive of the Mac. Since external hard drives are not expensive - 2 terabytes cost well under 100 euros - they are still the cheapest option for storing data on the Mac. However, external hard drives are quickly lost and should therefore always be encrypted in order to hide the data from third parties. On the Mac, this is very easy with Disk Utility.

• Mac: Encrypt external hard drive
• Use encryption with FileVault

Mac: Encrypt external hard drive

1st step:

If it is not an empty or new hard drive, you must first copy all data to another external hard drive . This is important because the hard drive must be formatted for encryption and all data will be erased in the process.

2nd step:

Then open Disk Utility . The easiest way to do this is to use the spotlight search (small magnifying glass at the top right).

3rd step:

Select the top of the menu line " representation "> " Show all devices ".

4th step:

Left click on the hard drive that you want to encrypt.

5th step:

Then click on " Delete " at the top .

6th step:

Select “ GUID Partition Table ” as the scheme and “ Mac OS Extended (journaled, encrypted) ” as the format .

7th step:

A window pops up in which you can assign a password . Then click " Select " and then " Erase " to reformat the hard drive with encryption. This could take a while.

8th step:

Then click “ Done ” and close Disk Utility.

9th step:

The hard drive will now be mounted.

10th step:

The next time you connect it, macOS will ask for the password you assigned in step 7 . You can use this to your Mac in the Keychain store so you do not have to do that again.

11th step:

Copy the data back to the now encrypted external hard drive and delete it from the other data carrier.

Use encryption with FileVault

By the way: If you use FileVault , it is even easier. To do this, however, you have to encrypt your system hard drive on the Mac, which can lead to problems in the event of a defect. So you should make sure to always create a Time Machine backup. Here we explain how to make a backup on your Mac. For FileVault encryption, go to System Preferences , choose Security, and enable FileVault . To be on the safe side, choose that your iCloud account is allowed to unlock the hard drive. The Mac will now encrypt after a restart all data on the internal data carrier. You can then also encrypt external data carriers simply by clicking the right mouse button in the Finder and selecting " Encrypt this data carrier "..

With FileVault, the Mac is completely encrypted.

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