Make external hard drive require password again

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Level 1

5 points

Make external hard drive require password again

I was backing up WD external hard dive (APFS(Case-sensitive, Encrypted) manually, going back and forth a lot, and it stopped asking for a password to mount it. How do I get it to require a password again?

I am using a MacBook Air, M1, 2020, Sequoia 15.3. I hooked the drive to a friend's MacBook, and it did require a password, so could I have accidentally told it to be in the keychain?. I have looked in passwords and utilities in applications, and cannot find anything that seems to apply. I don't want to have to reformat the disk! Would appreciate any help!

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 15.3

Posted on Feb 9, 2025 9:56 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Tesserax

Level 10

159,104 points

Feb 9, 2025 10:10 AM in response to cjjj

It sounds like macOS saved the password for your encrypted APFS drive to your keychain, which is why it no longer prompts you for it when mounting on your Mac but does on your friend's Mac. You don't need to reformat the drive—this should be fixable.

Let's start with these two items:

Check Keychain for Saved Password

Since your friend's Mac still prompts for a password, your Mac likely stored it in Keychain Access. To remove it:

Open Keychain Access (Finder → Applications → Utilities → Keychain Access).
In the search bar, type the name of your external drive.
Look for an entry with "APFS Volume Password" or similar.
If found, right-click it and select Delete.
Eject and reconnect the external drive—it should now prompt you for a password.

Disable Automatic Mounting (If Keychain Isn't the Issue)

If deleting the saved password doesn't work, macOS may be caching the authentication for convenience. To prevent this:

Open System Settings → Privacy & Security.
Scroll down and click FileVault.
See if your external drive is listed there with an option to manage security settings. If it is, disable automatic unlocking.

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Answer 2

cjjj Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 9, 2025 12:37 PM in response to Tesserax

Thank you. I did find keychain access and I found the name of my back up disc listed as an encrypted volume password, date modified January 17, 2025 (which is nuts because it only started this behavior today) and the keychain says “login.“

I don’t want to do anything stupid, because this disk has all my data on it. It’s not the only one, but it’s the one that I have most trust in. So what is the next step now that I’ve got to this point?

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