(Note that if you don't see the Encrypt option in the dropdown menu, your USB flash drive hasn't been formatted with a GUID partition map. With that in mind, here's how to securely encrypt your USB flash drive.Īttach the USB flash drive to your Mac and locate its disk icon on your desktop, in a Finder window, or in the Finder sidebar, then right-click (or Ctrl-click) it and select Encrypt ''. If this is a requirement, you'll need to use a third-party encryption solution like VeraCrypt. Note that the following method is only compatible with Macs – you won't be able to access data on the encrypted drive using a Windows machine. Using this convenient Finder option, we're going to show you how to encrypt a USB flash drive (or 'thumb drive'), which is useful if you're traveling light and want to take sensitive data with you for use on another Mac.įinder uses XTS-AES encryption, the same encryption that FileVault 2 uses to prevent access to data on a Mac's startup disk without a password.

In macOS Mojave, you can choose to encrypt and decrypt disks on the fly right from the desktop.

Mac encrypt external drive