June 11, 2014
Format a FileVault 2 encrypted disk
When you still have your password and have lots of time, you can cleanly disable FileVault2 from the Preferences pane. When you lack either one of these, another option is available: formatting your whole drive and losing your data.
When losing data is not a problem, you can use diskutil
to force a wipe of the disk. Thanks to Alex Cabrera, whose solution I am simply mirroring here.
Use diskutil cs list
to get a list of the available volume groups:
CoreStorage logical volume groups (1 found) | +-- Logical Volume Group FFF239C7-D4CB-4B93-B99E-0011AB4A17FF ========================================================= Name: MacBookPro SSD Status: Online Size: 499418034176 B (499.4 GB) Free Space: 0 B (0 B) | +-< Physical Volume E5DDBA82-4F9B-463F-83AF-871C262ABDD8 | ---------------------------------------------------- | Index: 0 | Disk: disk0s2 | Status: Online | Size: 499418034176 B (499.4 GB) | +-> Logical Volume Family 934054A8-BEE0-45CC-98B5-71B9610C4909 ---------------------------------------------------------- Encryption Type: AES-XTS Encryption Status: Unlocked Conversion Status: Complete High Level Queries: Fully Secure | Passphrase Required | Accepts New Users | Has Visible Users | Has Volume Key | +-> Logical Volume 2B29927E-C421-481A-98F9-0ECB076F3C1E --------------------------------------------------- Disk: disk1 Status: Online Size (Total): 499071844352 B (499.1 GB) Revertible: Yes (unlock and decryption required) LV Name: MacBookPro SSD Volume Name: MacBookPro SSD Content Hint: Apple_HFS
Copy the UUID of the Logical Volume Group in this case it is FFF239C7-D4CB-4B93-B99E-0011AB4A17FF.
Then wipe the volume group:
diskutil cs delete FFF239C7-D4CB-4B93-B99E-0011AB4A17FF
After that you can use the regular graphical Disk Utility to create a new partition on your Mac.