seagate passport 2T used for time machine

Question

seagate passport 2T used for time machine

I thought it was set to backup - and in fact, it has been. Except now, it does not even show on finder and all cables etc are new enough, and connected, and such...NOW it's asking for a password to connect it. I do not recall even making one, and if I did, did not record it (apparently). WHen I dig deep (somehow, through utilities) I see there actually is/was a password set for it but that does not work..

Short story: stuck. how to get it connected to computer? IN fact I have a newer 2T similar hard drive that is also not opening. I recall never being asked to set up a password for that.

I even restarted computer but, no luck

Any ideas?

thanks!

Barbara

MacBook Pro 14″, macOS 15.6

Posted on Sep 24, 2025 5:38 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Tesserax

Level 10

157,878 points

Sep 24, 2025 6:41 PM in response to barbaracolor18

From what you’re describing, it looks like the Time Machine drive was set up with encryption at some point. That’s why your Mac is asking for a password before it will let you open or use the drive. Unfortunately, without that password (or a recovery key if one was created), there’s no way for macOS to unlock the drive or get to the files on it.

Here are a few things you can try before considering wiping the drive:

Open Disk Utility (Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility) and check if the drive format shows “Encrypted.” That will confirm what’s happening.
Try your usual passwords, such as your Mac login password or Apple Account password, in case the drive was set up that way.
Check Keychain Access (also in Utilities) to see if the password was stored there automatically.

If none of those work, I'm afraid the only option is to erase and reformat the drive, which will make it usable again but will erase all of the existing backups.

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Answer 2

Sep 24, 2025 7:41 PM in response to Tesserax

Thanks for your info. THis is so far out of my skill set it's not funny, and Im pretty good for "someone my age" etc. It says the passport disc for time machine is encrypted and I am trying to get into the cloud to see what is saved in there, at least, and there should be most important things...it looks like there is a password there and I see the Hint but even trying that does not work. So much for 'hints". Yes I tried item 2 above. no luck.

IN the Keychain access there is nothing there. Even though I do have a few things on keychain they do not show up.

Is there any chance of plugging the 2t drive into my ipad? probably not, even with the same kind of port.

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