

How to unlock a password-protected USB drive using FileVault: The good news is that it won’t take you more than a minute to do so. If you need to recover files from a USB drive that has been encrypted with it, then you need to enter your password first to unlock it.

MacOS comes with a native disk encryption program called FileVault. Method 2: How to Decrypt a USB Flash Drive in macOS If you would like to learn how to remove a password from a USB flash drive encrypted with BitLocker, you can read this official tutorial. If you don’t remember your password anymore, you can click More options and use your 48-digit recovery key instead.


In order to view an encrypted file, you must first decrypt it using a decryption key. File encryption is a method used to digitally protect your data from unwanted access. While encrypted, the file is no longer readable through normal means. When a file has been encrypted, an encoding algorithm has been applied to it which modifies the data until a decryption key has been used. If you’ve found yourself in a situation where you need to recover lost files from an encrypted/password-locked USB drive, the instructions provided in this article are just what you need to get them back regardless of if you’re using Windows or macOS. Why? Because files stored on an encrypted (password-protected) USB drive can’t be accessed by anyone unless the USB drive is decrypted and unlocked first. Data encryption is among the most effective techniques for protecting confidential files, but it can become a double-edged sword when recovering lost data.
