{"id":48214,"date":"2025-06-24T15:55:33","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T19:55:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=48214"},"modified":"2025-06-26T11:08:52","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T15:08:52","slug":"macos-tahoe-beta-forces-sharing-filevault-key","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2025\/06\/24\/macos-tahoe-beta-forces-sharing-filevault-key\/","title":{"rendered":"macOS Tahoe Beta Forces Sharing FileVault Key"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jeff Johnson<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

Wait, what? macOS Tahoe beta 2 automatically enabled FileVault and uploaded a recovery key to iCloud.<\/p>\n

I did not have a choice in the matter.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

First, they silently enable iCloud Keychain<\/a>, then they upload your FileVault key to it without asking.<\/p>\n\n

Sarah Reichelt<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

Beta 1 did this too. I turned it off immediately.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

I’m not sure what’s going on here. This did not happen to me with either beta 1 or beta 2 (booting from an external drive). That said, I consider it a dark pattern that there’s still no way to opt out of storing your FileVault key in your iCloud account once and for all. I have to keep unchecking that option in the setup assistant, and it’s easy to miss if you’re just trying to get through all the pages as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n\n

FB18310782<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

When upgrading to macOS 26 Tahoe, the auto enabling of FileVault during Setup Assistant with no way to disable\/not enable FileVault breaks personal setup of a device that is used as a personal home server that maybe headless.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

I need to be able to restart the Mac Mini “server” remotely and have it come back up automatically to a full booted state without putting in a password for a local user to get services back up and running.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Previously:<\/p>\n