Do I have to disable FileVault before erasing all content and settings on Mac Pro?

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Level 1

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Do I have to disable FileVault before erasing all content and settings on Mac Pro?

Hi, I'm preparing my Mac Pro 7,1 for sale. It is currently running on macOS Monterey 12.6.6. I have read the Apple support article on how to reset a Mac to factory using the new "Erase All Content and Settings" feature that got added to Monterey.

My question is: should I disable FileVault before erasing via this feature, or is that done automatically / not necessary? The support article does not make a comment about FileVault.

I want to make sure the buyer will not get a password prompt with my FileVault password when he wants to setup the Mac.

Thanks for your help!

Posted on Sep 5, 2023 8:26 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Barney-15E

Level 10

116,350 points

Sep 5, 2023 3:57 PM in response to DenizKoyu

No, you don't need to disable FileVault.

It's not really "added to Monterey," as it is related to the T2 chip or Apple Silicon.

With a T2 chip or Apple Silicon, the drive is always encrypted regardless of enabling FileVault.

Erase All Content and Settings is possible as it deletes the decryption key.

All FileVault does is allow the user to enable the decryption keys through authentication as opposed to automatically and allows that user to log into their account with the same decryption authentication.

Disabling FileVault is not necessary regardless of whether you have Erase all content and settings or not.

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Answer 2

ku4hx

Level 7

23,586 points

Sep 5, 2023 12:16 PM in response to DenizKoyu

If you erase the drive, all content is gone. No possibility of anybody seeing anything. If it's not all gone, then you didn't/haven't erased the drive.

If you enabled it, why not just disable and and be done with it?

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Answer 3

DenizKoyu Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 5, 2023 1:19 PM in response to ku4hx

Thank you for your reply, but this wasn't really my question :)

I know nobody can access the data anymore after using the erase function. But regardless of the data, the new owner might still get a password prompt during first setup, requiring my previous password for FileVault.

The reason why I don't want to disable FileVault if not necessary is because to my knowledge, disabling it will trigger a full decryption of my entire 2 TB SSD, which would take days to complete. So if FileVault will not ask for my old password anymore after doing the "Erase All Content and Settings", I would rather just keep it enabled.

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Do I have to disable FileVault before erasing all content and settings on Mac Pro?

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