macOS

Shine a spotlight on the solutions to your most irritating Mac problems

- MARTIN MOORE, WILL MACFARLANE

Using passwords for FileVault

Q If I were to turn FileVault on, would Q other users on my Mac Studio have to log in using my password? 

A Fortunately, that's not how FileVault A works, as it's designed for multiple users each with their own password, unlike encrypted APFS volumes which rely on a single password for everyone.

Macs with T2 or Apple silicon chips automatically encrypt the whole of their Data volume on the internal SSD, but the encryption key they use for that is generated internally and not using a password. When you turn FileVault on, there's no change in that encryption, but its encryption key is encrypted and it's that which is protected by your password. This explains why, in those Macs, turning FileVault on or off is an instant procedure that doesn't result in a slow encryption or decryption.