Don't encrypt Time Machine data

RedLeafs wrote:

Prolog: My old (2010) iMac 21.5" died two weeks ago and was replaced with a new iMac 21.5". This caused me to go from OS 10.13.6 to 11.5.2.

Question: Being new to OS 11, is there a way to tell Time Machine to NOT encrypt my data (and therefore NOT require a password)?

Because I accidentally (and stupidly) bought my new machine with a smaller drive than Time Machine required to restore my old data, the only way I was able to get my files back was to manually retrieve them from the Time Machine drive. And this was only possible because they were not encrypted. If they had been I think I would have been out of luck.

I'm willing to risk my backed up files being 'in the clear'.

Thanks

I've used Time Machine drives encrypted for years as my employer mandates that for all external drives connected to our computers.

You enter a password when setting it up. To access the contents of the drive, you enter the password. It's not complicated.

Just don't select the checkbox to encrypt the backups. I don't think it is enabled by default, but perhaps.