When you enable the FileVault on your Mac/MacBook, encryption occurs in the background as you use your Mac, and only while your Mac is awake and plugged into AC power. FileVault 2, Apple's encryption program, offers data protection for the whole disk in an efficient method that is simple to implement and seamless to the user. Learn more about Apple's FileVault 2. It's best to leave it overnight because once you've started the encryption process, you cannot stop it. Typically this is about as long as it takes to encrypt the drive, so that could range from 10 minutes to 2 hours+, depending on the drive size, drive speed, and the speed of the Mac. Backing up encrypted data with Time Machine can only be done when a user is logged off of the session. To set up FileVault, you must be an administrator. That translates into 1% per hour, or more than 100 hours to complete the entire encryption process. Administrators have set policies via Profile Manager and/or scripts that will enable FileVault 2 during deployment and implement institutional recovery keys that the company manages in order to recover encrypted data per device, if needed. On the Assignments page, select the groups that will receive this profile. Your privacy is important. Encryption can take a long time, depending on the amount of data stored on your computer, but you can continue to use your computer as you normally do. Memory 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 - 500 GB Flash Storage. Admins can manage and rotate the FileVault recovery keys for any managed macOS device, by using the Intune encryption report. According to AV-TEST results, MacKeepers Antivirus software is one of the most effective in the industry, blocking 99.7% of common malware. FileVault can take some time to encrypt your disk, especially if you have 1TB of data. I see that you just enabled FileVault, and you're wondering if the time remaining estimate you're receiving is normal. diskutil cs list Share Improve this answer Follow On a Mac with Apple silicon and those with the T2 chip, the media key is guaranteed to be erased by the Secure Enclave supported technologyfor example by remote MDM commands. LibreCrypt is a transparent full-disk encryption program that fully supports Windows and contains partial support for Linux distributions. If the attackers gain access to the data sitting on the disk, they may be able to copy it, take it off your network, and even attack it directly, but theyll still be at an impasse if they cannot crack the encryption. Just click it to get started! FileVault needs the user to approve their management profile in macOS Catalina and higher. It needs to complete, and your computer will be more or less unusable while it encrypts because it's hella resource-intensive. The encryption program is not a substitute for proper physical, logical, and data security standards, but rather a part of the overall puzzle that makes up your devices security. In macOS 11 or later, the system volume is protected by the signed system volume (SSV) feature, but the data volume remains protected by encryption.