Checking if Encryption is Enabled on Your Mac

Apple has integrated full-disk encryption into the Mac OS X operating system. Apple calls this feature "FileVault."

Iowa State University requires encryption to be enabled on all university-owned laptops.

Monterey | Ventura | Sonoma


To check if encryption is enabled on macOS Monterey or older, first open System Preferences:

System preferences in the Apple menu

Then open the Security and Privacy panel.

The security and privacy icon in System preferences

Finally, click on the FileVault tab.

The file vault settings screen

In the example above, encryption is NOT enabled. Please do not enable encryption on your own; contact us at biologyit@iastate.edu as the encryption security key must be properly escrowed.


To check if encryption is enabled on macOS Ventura and Sonoma, open System Settings.

Then click Privacy & Security, scroll down to the bottom of the page and see if FileVault is On.

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In this instance FilesVault is On, if this was to show as Off, contact us at biologyit@iastate.edu as the encryption security key must be properly escrowed.