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In a newly released support document, Apple announced that support for the encrypted Mac OS Extended (HFS+) format will end with macOS 28, which is expected to be released in 2027.
This means that users will need to reformat or decrypt any storage device formatted with encrypted Mac OS Extended to use the drive with macOS 28. Apple does not explain the end of Mac OS Extended (HFS+), though the company has been prioritizing its APFS format over HFS+. Apple previously announced the deprecation of encrypted Mac OS Extended in the developer notes of the macOS 27 beta. Also, the support document states that macOS 26 may start displaying alerts if an encrypted Mac OS Extended drive is being used, telling the user that it will not be compatible with macOS 28.
Apple introduced the Mac OS Extended (HFS+) format in 1998, a time when hard drives or Fusion drives were the storage devices used on Macs. In 2017, Apple introduced the APFS format to replace Mac OS Extended (HFS+), a more modern format designed to work with the SSDs that are now standard storage devices in every Mac. SSDs must be formatted with APFS, while hard drives can be formatted with either format.
To see which format a drive is using, attach the device to a Mac. Then:
If you set your Mac up to show storage devices on the Desktop, you can select the drive’s Desktop icon and the Get Info on the drive by pressing Command-I, or by right-clicking and selecting Get Info. In the Get Info window, look for the Format heading.
If you do not show storage devices on the Dekstop, you can open a Finder window, select the storage device in the sidebar, right-click and select Get Info. In the Get Info window, look for the Format heading.
You can also use the Disk Utility app, which shows the format under the storage device’s name in the main window.
What to do with your encrypted Mac OS Extended (HFS+) drive
You have two options: decrypt the drive and continue using Mac OS Extended (HFS+) without encryption, or reformat the drive to APFS. The former can be done without having to copy your data to another storage device, but it’s best to make a copy first before proceeding. The second option requires you to erase the drive and all data on it, so you’ll want to make a backup before proceeding.
Apple offers complete instructions on how to decrypt the drive and continue using Mac OS Extended (HFS+) without encryption, or reformat the drive to APFS.