How to reverse unwanted FileVault activation on Tahoe?

Question

Level 1

7 points

How to reverse unwanted FileVault activation on Tahoe?

I just updated my 2022 Mac Studio M1 Max to Tahoe.

A notification that, I believe, said that Time Machine was backing up encrypted data to an unencrypted disk flashed on and off on the screen. I believe that is what it said because it was not on screen long enough to really read it.

I found that FileVault was now active on my Mac. I was given no chance to even set a password. I do not use FileVault and have no desire to. I prefer not to take the chance that I will lose data because I have forgotten or lost the password.

I found an article online saying I could just turn it off. It will not turn off. The information I find online is either contradictory or indecipherable. How can I remedy this? Any help appreciated.

Mac Studio, macOS 26.0

Posted on Sep 16, 2025 9:36 AM

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Answer 1

Sep 16, 2025 9:42 AM in response to mshot

Simple enough— turn it off

if that is falling you it begs the question—

are you logged in as Admin?

Is this machine managed by MDM or some such? Both these would thwart your attempts.

you can try from the Terminal.app if you have issues with the interface to verify status, copy and paste

fdesetup status

if you want to disable FileVault :

sudo fdesetup disable

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Answer 2

lkrupp

Level 7

22,225 points

Sep 16, 2025 11:13 AM in response to mshot

mshot wrote:

Thanks for the information. As I mentioned it will not turn off. I will try terminal. Thanks again.

If it won't turn off using the System Settings control then I suspect you have an installation problem/glitch. So what happens when you try to turn it off...

System Settings->Privacy & Security->FileVault...

Do you get an error or notification? Does it just sit there and do nothing? What?

I was able to turn it off without any issue. Of course you can only turn it off with an administrator level user account.

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Answer 3

dialabrain

Level 10

135,947 points

Sep 16, 2025 10:01 AM in response to VikingOSX

VikingOSX wrote:

The Tahoe setup after installation forces FileVault on with no escape plan until visiting System Settings > FileVault and switching it off. That really annoyed me…

I can see how that would be terribly annoying.

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Answer 4

Sep 16, 2025 10:27 AM in response to VikingOSX

I had FileVault active when I upgraded to macOS 26. There is now an option to Show the recovery key in System Settings > Privacy & Security > FileVault, but that option was grayed out. Turning off FV then turning it back on presented a new recovery key and there is now an option to show that in the settings pane.

Note that this is different than macOS 15 Sequoia, where with FV active the equivalent settings pane has only the option to turn off FV and warning/statement that a recovery key has been set.

Also worth noting that there was no option to store the key in iCloud.

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Answer 5

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,290 points

Sep 16, 2025 9:57 AM in response to leroydouglas

The Tahoe setup after installation forces FileVault on with no escape plan until visiting System Settings > FileVault and switching it off. That really annoyed me…

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Answer 6

mshot Author

Level 1

7 points

Sep 16, 2025 10:29 AM in response to leroydouglas

Thanks for the information. As I mentioned it will not turn off. I will try terminal. Thanks again.

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Answer 7

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,290 points

Sep 16, 2025 10:46 AM in response to neuroanatomist

I have never used FileVault (for a good reason) and have no plans to do so. Having it forced on during a new macOS installation was not cool.

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