Encrypting your computer's hard drive

Note: Your company may have specific guidance on how you should encrypt your hard drive. Please check with your IT or compliance teams before proceeding.

Encrypting your hard drive is a critical step in securing sensitive data and passing compliance checks. Follow the instructions below based on your operating system.

macOS

1. Open System Preferences and click Security & Privacy.
2. Click on the FileVault tab.
3. If FileVault is off, click Turn On FileVault….
4. You may need to click the lock in the lower left corner to make changes.
5. Once enabled, FileVault will display a confirmation message.
   

Windows 10/11 Professional

Note: BitLocker is not available for Windows Home Edition.

You may want to follow the standard steps to turn on BitLocker encryption provided by Microsoft. In summary:

1. Locate the hard drive you want to encrypt under This PC in Windows Explorer.
2. Right-click the target drive and choose Turn on BitLocker.
3. Choose Enter a Password.
4. Enter a secure password.
5. Choose How to Enable Your Recovery Key, which you’ll use to access your drive if you lose your password.
6. Choose Encrypt Entire Drive. This option is more secure and encrypts files you marked for deletion.
7. Click Start Encrypting to begin the encryption process.

Learn more about HD Encryption

Ubuntu Linux

To encrypt your hard drive on Ubuntu, refer to the following guides:

• Ubuntu Full Disk Encryption How-To (2019)
• Encrypting Disks on Ubuntu 19.04 (Medium)
• How to Enable Full Disk Encryption in Ubuntu 22.04 (JumpCloud)

Note: If you're using SecureSlate you may need to manually upload evidence of disk encryption. See Manual evidence uploads for personnel asset compliance check for details.