If your Mac is at a business or school, your institution can also set a recovery key to unlock it. Then keep the key somewhere safe that you’ll remember-but not in the same physical location as your Mac, where it can be discovered. If you write the key down, be sure to exactly copy the letters and numbers shown.
Recovery key: The key is a string of letters and numbers that’s created for you-keep a copy of the key somewhere other than your encrypted startup disk. ICloud account and password: This choice is convenient if you have an iCloud account or plan to set one up-you don’t need to keep track of a separate recovery key. When you turn on FileVault, you choose how you want to unlock your startup disk if you ever forget your password: To set up FileVault, you must be an administrator. However, turning on FileVault provides further protection by requiring your login password to decrypt your data. Note: If you have an iMac Pro or another model of Mac with an Apple T2 chip, the data on your drive is already encrypted automatically.
