disk-utilityencryptionhard drive
I'm looking to encrypt an new external hard drive via disk utility (Mac OS Extended | Journaled Encrypted) as shown on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvfrIyS1K04&frags=pl%2Cwn.
Will this drive only be able to be read on Max OS? If i need to access files through a Windows system am I out of luck?
Yes - it's the same whole disk encryption. In both instances you end up with a volume wrapper and key storage to unlocks the encrypted file system where the data is safely stored. Disk Utility is a bit of a chore to set up encryption of an external drive, so I usually just wipe the drive and set it for Backups and then tell Time Machine to encrypt the drive. It handles the formatting, generating the crypto keys and lets you choose a passphrase to unlock the keys.
You can use diskutil cs list from the command line (in terminal.app) to show the encryption status and details. There's nothing wrong with disk utility other than the steps involved to reach an equivalent drive setup.
Here is what a fully encrypted and locked USB drive looks like when you set up Time Machine and instruct it to encrypt backups to an external drive:
Air:~ bmike$ diskutil cs list
CoreStorage logical volume groups (1 found)
|
+-- Logical Volume Group 6FD6879D-EFBF-4F33-9FC2-13E32A0F7B28
=========================================================
Name: Backups
Status: Online
Size: 499730309120 B (499.7 GB)
Free Space: 0 B (0 B)
|
+-< Physical Volume 3082BFED-D84E-48FA-AB4F-7FB0197FD653
| ----------------------------------------------------
| Index: 0
| Disk: disk1s2
| Status: Online
| Size: 499730309120 B (499.7 GB)
|
+-> Logical Volume Family DFD4DEB4-93A8-4DD5-8F73-6534AB408E4D
----------------------------------------------------------
Encryption Status: Locked
Encryption Type: AES-XTS
Conversion Status: Complete
Conversion Direction: -none-
Has Encrypted Extents: Yes
Fully Secure: Yes
Passphrase Required: Yes
|
+-> Logical Volume E9497C5B-4AAD-46E5-ACEE-4214D1CA11D8
---------------------------------------------------
Disk: -none-
Status: Locked
Size (Total): 499411537920 B (499.4 GB)
Size (Converted): -none-
Revertible: Yes (unlock and decryption required)
LV Name: Backups
Content Hint: Apple_HFS
Aha! The answer comes when you try to deselect the "Encrypt backups" option:
So it appears they are one and the same.
Best Answer
You are out of luck accessing it on a Windows machine. The macOS Extended Journaled format is unreadable by Windows.
You can share the drive by formatting with FAT32, however, as detailed in this PCWorld web page.