How do I unlock my encrypted Mac hard drive without password?

In order to unlock or decrypt the Mac’s drive, you’d need to know the administrator’s username and password, unless a recovery key was created. You’d go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > FileVault > unlock the padlock with your username and password to unlock it. Then it’s unlocked.

Can I restart Mac while FileVault is encrypting?

You can safely use, shutdown, sleep, and restart your Mac during the FileVault encryption and decryption process. The process happens in the background while your Mac is awake and plugged in.

What is recovery Mac?

Mac Recovery Mode is a special mode in macOS that loads native recovery tools that help you restore from a Time Machine backup, get help online, reinstall macOS, or erase a hard disk, and more. The recovery tools are loaded from a special disk partition holding a recovery image and copy of the macOS installer.

What’s Macintosh HD data?

Macintosh HD Data — The storage drive volume where Mac user data is stored. The volume has read-write access, enabling Mac users to manage their files.

Does encryption slow down Mac?

Our CPUs have dedicated instructions to optimize AES, so the performance impact is basically nil. Exactly. “Every time you make the computer do something extra, in this case encrypting/decrypting all file access, it will take longer and the machine will slow down a bit.” is just plain untrue.

Does FileVault encrypt the Bootcamp partition?

No, FileVault only encrypts the Mac partition of the disk while Bootcamp partition is handled by Windows. However, it is possible to encrypt the Bootcamp (Windows) partition with BitLocker. By the way, you can still switch from Mac partial to Bootcamp while encryption or decryption process is still in progress.

What is FileVault on Mac and how does it work?

FileVault is a built-in encryption mechanism developed by Apple, and it encrypts all files on Mac’s startup disk. It is worth to enable the FileVault because this will prevent from accessing the user data in case if the MacBook is lost or stolen. And now, let’s go over the basics. The Impact of FileVault on Mac Performace

Can FileVault be used with Windows partitions?

Personally I doubt that FileVault can be used with Windows partitions: 1. FileVault is too deeply tied to the MacOS Extended (Journaled) filesystem and Windows uses/needs a different one (NTFS). 2. Right now OSX can only read from NTFS partitions not write to them, which would be needed for encryption.

How much does FileVault affect performance?

So, does FileVault affect performance? FileVault significantly degrades disk performance on all old Mac models. The impact of the FileVault on disk writes is the highest, in some cases, down to a half. The impact on disk reads is about 10-20%.