trying to install catalina but says "you may not install to this volume because it is currently being encrypted

Hi loanman2001,

You will need to turn off FileVault on your drive first.

Go to the Apple Menu > System Preferences > Security & Privacy. Click the File Vault tab. You might have to click the lock icon and enter your administrator password to authenticate. Next click turn off FileVault.

You should be able to install Catalina fine afterwards.

Also, make sure you are plugged in to power when installing MacOS Catalina.

I hope this helps.

Yes, one does have to wait for encryption to finish.

The OP can check the progress of by gong to VileVault. I believe there is a progress bar that shows the progress of the encryption in the FileVault pane of System Preferences.

I hope this makes sense, I may have read it too quickly as reading it again, you are correct that it says volume is currently being encrypted.

You must wait for the disk encryption to finish. Then disable it so you can do the installation.

If I remember correctly, don't you have to wait for encryption to finish before you can disable it? The OP did say encryption had not yet finished.

"The OP can check the progress of by gong to VileVault." A great typo, if you didn't do this on purpose.

Sorry, but only you or the moderators can edit your posts. You can only edit your post within the first 15 minutes after you post something. So I'm afraid that very funny (and, also, true) typo must stand for eternity. Not to worry. You are among friends. Personally, I think I will send feedback to Apple suggesting that as a name change for FileVault.

FWIW, my 300,000+ points doesn't even get me coffee. Fortunately, there are two others with 300,000+ points and one with over 400,000 points. But we are all here to help.

Kappy,

Oops I was typing fast, hence the typo. Are you able to edit posts based on your status? I'm not sure what privileges 300,000+ posts gets. If you are able to edit, change it to FileVault.