How to encrypt exfat drive on mac 11 and above OS, but it requires the file system of external drive must be NTFS, FAT32 or exFAT. Maybe things have gotten better in the last 10 years? And what if I want disk encryption? Jan 4, 2025 · Encrypts entire drives: Whether it's your primary OS drive or a removable USB stick, BitLocker makes sure no one can read your data without proper credentials. Looks like I can encrypt the external drive the following ways: Oct 8, 2023 · There are a couple options for encrypting external hard drives on Mac: You can format the drive with an encrypted file system like Mac OS Extended (Journaled, Encrypted). Aug 12, 2024 · The obvious choice is exFAT, but what if I want a modern disk format with journaling for data safety? Ext4 is one option, although it used to be read-only on Macs (see Mounting Ext2/Ext3/Ext4 USB Flash Drives on Mac: Read Only Success). Enter a name for the drive. Jan 16, 2024 · I do not have any option for APFS Encrypted. Question: is there an encryption system, supported out-of-the-box on Windows + Ubuntu, that would allow an external USB hard drive to be read+written easily on Windows and Ubuntu? May 28, 2016 · You must format the drive with a GUID Partition Table. Sep 17, 2012 · It’s now easier than ever to quickly encrypt external disks and hard drives from Mac OS X, whether they are USB drives, Firewire, flash drives, or even SD cards. iBoysoft BitLocker for Mac is fully compatible with macOS Sequoia. ) on Mac OS X 10. Nov 5, 2024 · You can set up a Windows virtual machine on your Mac (using Parallels Desktop, VMware Fusion, or VirtualBox) and read the BitLocker drive on Mac from Windows. Apr 22, 2025 · Open the Disk Utility application. Aug 5, 2025 · As we all know, only FAT and exFAT file systems are supported by macOS and Windows, so you have to format the hard drive to the supported systems first and then you can use the hard drive on two platforms without a hitch. If you want to be able to open the drive on any computer Aug 5, 2025 · This easy-to-operate and powerful disk encryption tool can help you encrypt NTFS, exFAT, or FAT32 external hard drive or USB drive with Microsoft BitLocker To Go - the advanced full disk encryption feature that is only available in Windows. Mar 12, 2025 · This tutorial will show you how to access BitLocker encrypted exFAT drives in macOS with Hasleo BitLocker Anywhere For Mac. In this guide, we show you how to encrypt an external hard drive on Windows and Mac machines. Jun 9, 2025 · Need to access a BitLocker-encrypted USB, external disk, or SD card on Mac? Learn the best methods, including third-party tools and workarounds. May 14, 2023 · Step 4: Erase the Encrypted USB Drive Click on the “Erase” button at the top of the Disk Utility window. You would have to use the FAT or ExFAT formats (depending on big the drive is) in order to use the disk with Windows, but I don't think you can turn on encryption at the same time, at least not through Disk Utility. Here’s how to use them. Follow these steps: Nov 17, 2020 · I could use an encrypted ext4 partition on the USB external hard drive, but then it would be complicated to use on Windows (maybe impossible!). Make sure there are enough free space to create a Windows virtual machine, at least 60GB. Then, you can use this encrypted USB for cross-platform data transfer securely. Mar 11, 2021 · keeping an external hard drive secure is vital. Someone who gains access to your Mac, removes your hard drive, and attempts to view your files won't be able to see anything without your encryption key. FileVault is Mac’s built-in whole-disk encryption tool. While you can still use the t… Jan 25, 2019 · You can use a third-party tool like iSunshare BitLocker Genius to unlock then read and write the BitLocker-protected drive on Mac. Now, instead of needing macOS 10. When I try Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled) it does not give me a pop up to type a password and just format it in which anyone can open it and have access. Mar 12, 2025 · The Mac operating system supports access to the exFAT drive by default, but when the exFAT drive is encrypted with BitLocker, then Mac operating system will not be able to access it because Mac operating system does not support BitLocker driver encryption. Encrypted using BitLocker on Windows. g. Apr 18, 2019 · You may not know this, but macOS actually has a few built-in USB encryption features baked into its software — letting you encrypt and decrypt USB drives and other storage media on the fly. Aug 5, 2025 · iBoysoft BitLocker for Mac is a one-stop solution for managing and using BitLocker drives on Mac. Click “Erase” to begin formatting the encrypted USB drive. Besides, if you want to format the drive with exFAT or FAT32, and encrypt it on Mac, you can try iBoysoft BitLocker for Mac, it enables you to encrypt an The file method will let you have unencrypted data on the ExFAT drive, and anything you want encrypted can go into the encrypted file (Veracrypt makesnthe file appear as another drive). On macOS, you'll have to erase your drive to encrypt it using Disk Utility. Jan 15, 2024 · I have an external USB drive (WD My Passport), exFAT formatted, for use with the Mac and Windows PC's. When you enable FileVault, your files are stored on your hard drive in an encrypted, seemingly scrambled format. I’ll show all three with exact steps, checks, and fixes. Feb 24, 2025 · Select “Create an encrypted file container” and click “Next. Basically, how do I encrypt an external hard drive in such a way where I can still use it if my computer bites the dust? I encrypted a LaCie external hard drive with Disk Utility (APFS Volume) and password protected it. Encrypting external media like USB drives (thumbdrives/usb sticks), Hard drives, SSDs can be a bit cumbersome in macOS. Choose a format for the drive (e. Apr 27, 2024 · 1 My current USB drive (256gb) is formatted in Mac and is an encrypted APFS file system made in Disk Utility. FAT32, exFAT, NTFS, MS-DOS (FAT) are not supported for encryption on macOS. May 31, 2016 · After our Windows encryption showdown, reader Jerod passed along this tip to make sure your encrypted volumes, especially external hard drives, in Windows play nicely with other platforms like OS Mar 17, 2014 · The FileVault feature allows you to encrypt your Mac's entire hard disk. This uses XTS-AES encryption, which is the same type of encryption that the macOS FileVault 2 system uses. Oct 8, 2023 · To format an external hard drive to be encrypted on a Mac, you need to use Disk Utility. External tips: If you want to unlock or encrypt the external hard drive (including USB flash drive) encrypted by Windows BitLocker, Cocosenor BitLocker Reader can help open the BitLocker encryption flash drive on Mac. Sep 29, 2024 · “Can I use BitLocker on exFAT drive?” If user has exFAT drive, is BitLocker compatible with exFAT file system? This is a guide to show you how to solve the problem. Aug 5, 2025 · Here's step-by-step tutorial about how to encrypt, password protect external hard drive for both Mac and Windows PC usage. If you want a “format and encrypt once, use anywhere” drive, format the drive ExFAT and then use VeraCrypt to do whole disk encryption on it. Planning to use your external drive on a Mac or Linux machine? Jun 3, 2025 · With the help of a professional third-party tool, you can easily complete cross-platform USB drive encryption with BitLocker on a Mac computer. However, the information stored on them is susceptible to unauthorized access if the drive is lost, stolen, or accessed without permission. You can do that if you Erase the drive with Disk Utility. I believe that I need to select APFS or GUID, but this isn't an option. Click on the 'Security Options' button. I am also getting a 2tb external SSD (usb-c) to use as a larger backup disk. Oct 29, 2023 · I've just bought the Samsung T7 shield and want to erase and encrypt the drive. Back up important data, use Windows BitLocker or Veracrypt for encryption. In the Erase window, select the file system you want to use (such as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) or ExFAT) and give the drive a name. , ExFAT, MS-DOS (FAT), or Mac OS Extended (Journaled)). If you encrypt an internal device, you must enter a password to access the device and its information. Result: works on Windows, does not work on Mac. Choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled, Encrypted) as the format. 2 days ago · The Short Answer Use BitLocker To Go if your PC has Windows Pro or Enterprise. I don't want to use the Samsung software. Aug 5, 2025 · Therefore, if you want to encrypt the USB drive while formatting it in Disk Utility, you can select APFS (Encrypted) and APFS (Case-sensitive, Encrypted). Encrypt and protect a storage device with a password in Disk Utility on Mac When you format an internal or external storage device, you can encrypt and protect it with a password. This solution can help you unlock and access BitLocker-encrypted data on any Mac. Please refer to the article below to learn how to open & read & write BitLocker encrypted drive on macOS and Mac OS X: Sep 3, 2019 · M3 Bitlocker Loader for Mac can also use Bitlocker to encrypt external drive (USB drive, flash drive, external hard drive, pen drive, thumb drive, USB stick, memory stick, etc. Select " Decrypt "###"… " and enter your password to decrypt/turn off the encryption from the USB flash drive. Keep in mind that using Finder to encrypt a thumb drive will restrict its usage to macOS. If you have Windows Home, use USB Secure to lock the drive without admin rights. Password protecting an external hard drive on a Mac is an easy and secure way to encrypt sensitive files and restrict access. ” Creating an encrypted file container will allow you to make only a section of your external drive encrypted. Gap Statement Most guides stop at “turn on BitLocker. M3 BitLocker Loader for Mac leads with fast read-write speed. It enables you to encrypt FAT32/exFAT/NTFS drives on macOS, read-write encrypted drives on Mac, and support both Intel Macs and Apple Silicon Macc. Apr 29, 2021 · Apple allows encrypted drives in two varieties: startup via FileVault and external via a Finder option. Windows exclusivity: While it’s powerful, BitLocker encryption can only be accessed on Windows devices. If you are trying to encrypt the drive without erasing the contents, it cannot be done since it is not already formatted with a GUID Partition Table. Locate your USB flash drive on the list of drives on the left side of the Disk Utility window. If you want to encrypt the drive with Mac OS Extended, you may need to downgrade macOS. I recently started using Windows 11 and I would like to transfer and access files between Windows and Mac. Nov 13, 2024 · Encrypting a hard drive protects data and can be legally required, choose whole-drive encryption for the safest option. Click on your USB flash drive and select the 'Erase' option. 12 or later, you’ll need any computer/OS combo produced in the past 20-ish years AND the VeraCrypt software installed in order to mount and read your drive. If your password-protected drive means a BitLocker encrypted drive, iBoysoft BitLocker for Mac is indispensable. Use WD Security on supported external drives instead of macOS Encryption. Up to you. This is the most common way to encrypt your external drive (Griffith, 2015). In Disk Utility on your Mac, protect sensitive information on a storage device by requiring users to enter a password to access its files. Formatted and encrypted on Mac using VeraCrypt. For cross platform sharing, put an AES 256 encrypted archive on the USB or use a VeraCrypt container. When I go to erase, I can only choose from the following Formats (see pic): -Mac OS Extended (journaled) -Mac OS Extended (case sensitive) -MS-DOS (FAT Jan 17, 2024 · 2. macOS Encryption is not recommended on external drives that support encryption. Aug 20, 2018 · WD Security Supported Drives Data on an encrypted or password protected drive cannot be recovered by Western Digital. We now know why the Mac operating system cannot access the BitLocker encrypted exFAT drive. Also, it does not give me an option to change the Scheme from MBR to GPT (aka GUID Partition Map). Dec 29, 2020 · No, don't do that! Last time I checked, Windows could not read any of the Mac formats. Result: works on Mac, does not work on Windows. This fully encrypts the entire drive at the disk level. ” They skip If you're on an Apple Mac and want to encrypt your drives using the Apple file System then this is a how-to with two choices. . This post introduces how to encrypt a USB flash drive on a macOS computer using M3 BitLocker Loader for Mac, and you can use this tool to access a BitLocker drive encrypted by a Windows computer! Sep 26, 2023 · External hard drives are a great way to back up important files and data. This tutorial will walk through the steps needed to create encrypted APFS Jun 27, 2025 · Discover the top 6 BitLocker for Mac utility software to unlock, read and write to a BitLocker encrypted drive on macOS. Again, when I mention that the drive 'does not work', it does not work in a plug-and-play kind of way. Apr 18, 2019 · Use Finder to encrypt USB drives on MacBook As of macOS Mojave, you can easily encrypt and decrypt generic mass storage devices on-the-go using Finder. Dec 18, 2019 · Formatted on Mac using Disk Utility to ExFAT. 3eunj wfq130he rtnc uyk5sh 6hbsa nodd zjo2 gz gcne acco