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You should have a personal recovery key for FileVault

If you have forgotten you FileVault password you can recover your encrypted data with a recovery key, but there was no recovery key created. You should immediately create a recovery key.

How to fix it

macOS 10.11 – 14

  1. Open terminal.app

  2. Enter and press return: 

    Terminal command
    sudo fdesetup changerecovery -personal

  3. Enter the administrator password

  4. Enter your password (both are on most single user Mac the same)

  5. Write down the recovery key (write it on paper or an other location, but not on your Mac)

Example Output:

Password:   Enter your password:   New personal recovery key = 'GKF2-BXMK-WUEJ-JT76-J7ZK-47MO'