fwik
Level 1 (1 points)

Q: time machine turn off encryption

How do I turn off encryption for a Time Machine backup?

 

I have an external drive that I have been using unencrypted for a year or so.  I recently connected it to a new macbook air in order to use as a Time Machine disk for that laptop, in addition to all of the other stuff it has stored on it (e.g. photos). 

 

When setting up Time Machine, I opted to make the backup encrypted.  Everything works fine.  However, for other reasons, I would now like to turn encryption *off* (the reason is that encrypting the Time Machine back-ups is encrypting the entire disk, and that's inconvenient for other reasons).

 

I do not see a "turn off encryption" option with Time Machine -- i.e. no analog to the setting I initially chose to enable.  If I open Disk Utility, the File menu contains an option to "Turn Off Encryption" but that option is grayed out -- I cannot select it.

 

One possible explanation I thought of is that Time Machine was not done encrypting the disk, and that perhaps you can't unencrypt a volume until it is done encrypting.  However, I think encryption is complete (it no longer states that it is busy encrypting when I connect the disk to my laptop, but I also don't see a status indicator that encryption is complete either).

 

And so I repeat:  how do I turn off encryption?

MacBook Air, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Jan 14, 2013 3:17 PM

by fwik,Solvedanswer
fwik fwik
Level 1 (1 points)
A:

Hi Allan,

 

Thanks for the link and the info.

 

I agree re: partitioning.  I have a separate Time Machine partition on the disk for my old computer, but out of laziness I just backed up my new machine to the main volume on the disk, even though there was already (a significant amount of) data on it. 

 

I've searched the internet high and low and no one seemed to have a solution.  But thanks to that pondini link and a slight amount of creativity, I found a dead simple way to turn off encryption! 

 

Here's how:

Open Time Machine

Turn Time Machine Off

Select Backup Disk and turn Time Machine back on

Choose NOT to encrypt Backup

 

Done!  10 seconds tops. 

(of course it will take your computer some time to actually decrypt the volume... )

 

No command line.  No weirdness with Disk Utility not allowing me to disable encryption, etc. 

 

Thanks again Allan!

Posted on Jan 14, 2013 5:14 PM

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fwik

Q: time machine turn off encryption

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Allan Eckert,Helpful

    Allan Eckert Allan Eckert Jan 14, 2013 4:49 PM in response to fwik
    Level 9 (53,368 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 14, 2013 4:49 PM in response to fwik

    Read http://pondini.org/TM/31.html to turn off encryption.

     

    It is recommended that other data not be stored on the same disk as Time Machine backups. It causes problems for Time Machine. The better method if you wish to store other data on the drive is to partition and then use one partition for Time Machine and the other for your data.

     

    Allan

  • by fwik,Solvedanswer

    fwik fwik Jan 14, 2013 5:14 PM in response to Allan Eckert
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Jan 14, 2013 5:14 PM in response to Allan Eckert

    Hi Allan,

     

    Thanks for the link and the info.

     

    I agree re: partitioning.  I have a separate Time Machine partition on the disk for my old computer, but out of laziness I just backed up my new machine to the main volume on the disk, even though there was already (a significant amount of) data on it. 

     

    I've searched the internet high and low and no one seemed to have a solution.  But thanks to that pondini link and a slight amount of creativity, I found a dead simple way to turn off encryption! 

     

    Here's how:

    Open Time Machine

    Turn Time Machine Off

    Select Backup Disk and turn Time Machine back on

    Choose NOT to encrypt Backup

     

    Done!  10 seconds tops. 

    (of course it will take your computer some time to actually decrypt the volume... )

     

    No command line.  No weirdness with Disk Utility not allowing me to disable encryption, etc. 

     

    Thanks again Allan!

  • by Frederik Defyn,

    Frederik Defyn Frederik Defyn Aug 4, 2013 2:39 AM in response to fwik
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 4, 2013 2:39 AM in response to fwik

    Didn't work for me. Only decrypted a part of the disk. For some reason I have to partitions on my HD, never intentionally did anything to partion it, but anyways. This din't fix it.

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Aug 4, 2013 12:40 PM in response to Frederik Defyn
    Level 9 (69,630 points)
    iTunes
    Aug 4, 2013 12:40 PM in response to Frederik Defyn

    You might want to consider starting a new discussion. Since this one is marked solved, less people are likely to look at it.


  • by sorinone,

    sorinone sorinone Sep 7, 2013 7:37 PM in response to fwik
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 7, 2013 7:37 PM in response to fwik

    For me this dosent work so what can i do , i followed the steps but it still remains grayed out.

  • by OBLIV3ON,

    OBLIV3ON OBLIV3ON Dec 2, 2013 3:34 PM in response to fwik
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 2, 2013 3:34 PM in response to fwik

    I too was under the mistaken belief that I would be able to turn off encryption the same place that I turned it on. This cannot be done from within Time Machine (at least not in OS X 10.9) - you need to do it from within the Disk Utility:

     

    1. Open Disk Utility
    2. Select the backup disk
    3. File > Turn Off Encryption...
    4. Enter the password for your encrypted disk

     

    This will turn off encryption for your backup disk, and decrypt the data that is currently encrypted.

  • by pasadian,

    pasadian pasadian Dec 9, 2013 11:14 AM in response to OBLIV3ON
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 9, 2013 11:14 AM in response to OBLIV3ON

    Thank you so much, I was stuck at 1% for 24 hours.  your a life saver...

  • by PhotosTM,

    PhotosTM PhotosTM Jul 3, 2015 11:28 AM in response to OBLIV3ON
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 3, 2015 11:28 AM in response to OBLIV3ON

    This solution worked. Thanks!

  • by Singleton Makin,

    Singleton Makin Singleton Makin May 24, 2016 12:36 PM in response to OBLIV3ON
    Level 1 (33 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 24, 2016 12:36 PM in response to OBLIV3ON

    But what happens if I got to Disk Utility and follow your list but TURN OFF ENCRYPTION is GREYED out only when I select the BACKUP DRIVE!

     

    Its like Time Machine holds a curse on the drive now stamping it ENCRYPTING…that is what it says when I open it in Time Machine

     

    in Disk Utility there is nothing. I mean it shows up but I can't turn off encryption…..why?

     

    What next? do I trash TIME MACHINE PREFERENCES?

     

    do I go deep into the SYSTEM and ERASE HIDDEN FILES that TIME MACHINE has SITTING creating this nonsense?

     

    I don't want to REPARTITION or ERASE the DRIVE it is still working……Nothing is CORRUPTED……..IF I repair it will that take care of it?

     

    Please give me some ideas…because I don't want to BACK UP and WIPE the DRIVE just because I flicked the stupid TIME MACHINE SWITCH!!!!!!!!!!!!

    what a gawd **** bother!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

  • by Singleton Makin,

    Singleton Makin Singleton Makin May 24, 2016 12:48 PM in response to Singleton Makin
    Level 1 (33 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 24, 2016 12:48 PM in response to Singleton Makin

    ok I repaired the disk it asked me if I wanted to use it for TIME MACHINE i said no.

     

    still does';t work...

    look at this…info…how can I change the data  in red??

                                 

    Name : Seagate Backup Plus Drive

    Type : Encrypted Logical Partition

    Disk Identifier : disk6

    Mount Point : /Volumes/Seagate Backup Plus Drive

    Disk Status : Online

    File System : Mac OS Extended (Journaled, Encrypted)

    Writable : Yes

    Universal Unique Identifier : 07F96A62-F5B7-3171-8D7B-BABE039FE1F8

    Capacity : 999.53 GB (999,525,363,712 Bytes)

    Used : 734.05 GB (734,052,958,208 Bytes)

    Number of Files : 263,166

    Number of Folders : 44,686

    Owners Enabled : Yes

    Can Turn Owners Off : Yes

    Can Repair Permissions : No

    Can Be Verified : Yes

    Can Be Repaired : Yes

    Can Be Formatted : Yes

    Bootable : Yes

    Supports Journaling : Yes

    Journaled : Yes

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root May 25, 2016 8:18 AM in response to Singleton Makin
    Level 9 (69,630 points)
    iTunes
    May 25, 2016 8:18 AM in response to Singleton Makin

    You might want to consider starting a new discussion. Since this one is marked solved, less people are likely to look at it. You can link to this one.

  • by Al-kashrie,

    Al-kashrie Al-kashrie Jul 21, 2016 5:11 PM in response to fwik
    Level 1 (16 points)
    Notebooks
    Jul 21, 2016 5:11 PM in response to fwik

    Use terminal on your Macbook then type in command diskutil cs list, look the volume of your external hard drive that is encrypting and copy it, and type the following.

    diskutil cs revert and paste the volume/UUID, If the volume is corect the terminal is asking for your passphrase/password that you use for encryption.