Internal drive password

Hi Airsculpture,

You may want to check your permissions are set correctly. This article explains more about this: If you don’t have permission to use files on a Mac disk.

"If you don’t have permission to use the files on a disk that’s connected to your Mac and you are not the administrator of the Mac, ask the administrator to give you access to the disk.

If you’re the administrator, you can change the read and write privileges for those files.

1. On your Mac, select the disk, then choose File > Get Info.
2. Click the arrow  next to Sharing & Permissions to expand that section.
3. If the lock at the bottom right is locked , click it to unlock the permissions.
4. Select the type of user you want to give access to, then choose “Read only” or Read & Write from the Privileges menu."

Take care.

Hi Airsculpture.

Thank you for using the Apple Support Communities! Are you using FileVault? You can check with the steps below:

Encrypt Mac data with FileVault

On your Mac, choose Apple menu  > System Settings, click Privacy & Security  in the sidebar, then go to FileVault. (You may need to scroll down.)

Click Turn On next to FileVault.

You might be asked to enter your password.

Choose how to unlock your disk and reset your login password if you forget it:

* iCloud account: Click “Allow my iCloud account to unlock my disk” if you already use iCloud. Click “Set up my iCloud account to reset my password” if you don’t already use iCloud.

* Recovery key: Click “Create a recovery key and do not use my iCloud account.” Write down the recovery key and keep it in a safe place.

Click Continue.

If your Mac has additional users, their information is also encrypted. Users unlock the encrypted disk with their login password.

If there’s an Enable Users button, you must enter a user’s login password before they can unlock the encrypted disk. Click Enable Users, select a user, enter the login password, click OK, then click Continue.

Hope this helps!

Have a great day.