Because Mac OS X is constantly encrypting and decrypting your home folder while you work, you may notice slower performance when handling large files (movies, iPhoto libraries, etc.).

The Available size must be greater than the size of your home folder.Ī few things to be aware of when using FileVault to encrypt your home folder: A window will appear and OS X will calculate the size of your home folder in the General > Size section. In the menubar, click on File > Get Info. Close that window, and back in the Finder window, click on the Users folder, then your home folder. That is how much free space is on the computer. A window will appear and one of the items will be Available. Click on your computer's hard drive (usually Macintosh HD). To check your available disk space and size of your home folder, in the Finder menubar, select Go > Computer. For example, if your home folder is taking up 40GB of space, you will need at least 40GB of free space available. During the conversion process you will need as much free space as your home folder is taking up, as FileVault copies your home folder into a new encrypted file. This conversion process will take a few hours, but runs in the background so you can continue working. When you enable FileVault for your account, it will convert your home folder into a FileVault file which will appear as a single encrypted file to unauthorized users. Information about converting your account Mac OS X includes File Vault recovery features - a recovery key and an option to store recovery information with Apple. If you forget the password for an encrypted FileVault account, files and folders in that account will be unrecoverable. Other users, including administrators, are unable to access your profile if it is encrypted with FileVault. The files and folders in your encrypted home folder are only accessible by the username and password for your account. To prevent others from seeing or copying files in your home directory on OS X, you can use the built-in FileVault software to encrypt your home folder. Mac OS X has built-in software to encrypt your home folder.

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