Encrypting Time Machine HD?

Re; 2017 MacBook Pro OS 10.13.3

Many thanks to Forum members for explaining the procedure for encrypting USB flash drives. Here's a new question:

Is it possible to encrypt my Time Machine external HD? It is a G Drive mini 750 GB, and it has about 350 GB of data on it.

Would I follow the same procedure as encrypting a USB drive? (download the entire contents of the external HD to the laptop, password encrypt the HD, then transfer the data back from the laptop). Is there any other option?

If you go into Time Machine Preferences, click on Select Disk, you will have a check box to Encrypt Drive. That should be all you need to do, then wait for it to finish encrypting the drive.

Thank you for your response! I assume I would encrypt the G-Drive Mini under "Available Disks".

I am curious about the "Other Airport Time Capsule" option?

Do you have an Apple Time Capsule?

https://www.apple.com/airport-time-capsule/

ferrarr said:

Do you have an Apple Time Capsule?

https://www.apple.com/airport-time-capsule/

Click to expand...

Never heard of it before. Just looked it up, and it appears to useful when several computers share a router?

Encrypting Time Machine HD

Click to expand...

Try these:
macOS Sierra: Keep your Time Machine backup disk secure
https://support.apple.com/kb/PH25615?locale=en_US

How to Encrypt Your Mac’s Time Machine Backup
https://www.howtogeek.com/305540/how-to-encrypt-your-macs-time-machine-backup/

And maybe read the last one first!!!




- Patrick
======

I don't want to muddy the waters; but if you Right Click on any mounted External Hard Drive (EHD) - including the Time Machine EHD - one of the options is "Encrypt name-of-drive".

I've used this several times on EHDs NOT used for Time Machine I have to say. Just BU Drives.

Is this the same thing? Or is it only protecting the EHD with a password? It doesn't take long whatever it is doing. A 500GB EHD, 60% full, took about 30 minutes.

Ian

I don't want to muddy the waters; but if you Right Click on any mounted External Hard Drive (EHD) - including the Time Machine EHD - one of the options is "Encrypt name-of-drive".

Click to expand...

Now that's handy for those who need it, but wouldn't it be even nicer if the same ease of encryption could be applied to just a folder??? That option doesn't seem to exist on my iMac. Drive volume only.




- Patrick
======

wouldn't it be even nicer if the same ease of encryption could be applied to just a folder

Click to expand...

Yes Patrick, it would. The only way I know of achieving anything close to that - and not really what you are asking - is to create a PDF of a file (via Cmd + P to print menu and then click on the "PDF" arrowhead) and from there you can create a PDF which has options for encryption with a PW.

In my earlier post, I was just making the point that you don't have to go through a complicated rigmarole to encrypt an EHD; even if it already contains lots of data.

Ian

In my earlier post, I was just making the point that you don't have to go through a complicated rigmarole to encrypt an EHD; even if it already contains lots of data.

Click to expand...

And an excellent useful simple point it was Ian.

I'm surprised that Apple's Finder Help mentions nothing about 'encryption'!!! No real surprise I guess, and thanks for the reminder of the option.




- Patrick
======