DECEMBER 2019 MACWORLD 147that a message “can’t be downloaded”
after performing this import, even though
you can view its contents and it looks
normal. Messages in the main inbox may
be set so that Mail regards as them as not
downloaded. While they can’t be moved,
you can still view them and copy their
contents, if not the entire message.
HOW TO MAKE FILEVAULT
WORK AGAIN WHEN YOU’RE
MISSING A ‘SECURE TOKEN’
Several months ago, we posted a column
called “What to do when FileVault won’t
turn on,” (go.macworld.com/fvon) which
offered a set of strategies when you
couldn’t get macOS to let you enable
FileVault, Apple’s full-disk encryption (FDE)
technology. These worked for some
people who have followed up with us. The
most severe of the scenarios was the
“nuclear option,” which required a full
backup or clone of your Mac, erase the
drive, reinstalling macOS, and restoring
your previous files. This would always
re-enable the FileVault capability, but it’s a
big investment of time and effort.
I’d put off carrying it out on my
MacBook, which had this problem, hoping
another alternative would emerge.
Fortunately, Rich Trouton has a solution
(go.macworld.com/rich) at his Der Flounder
site, where he often provides inside into
tricky or unsolvable disk-formatting and
encryption issues. (Thanks also to reader
Christophe for alerting me to Trouton’s
update.)
There’s a process far shy of nuclear
that worked for me and others who have
tried it. As I noted in the original article,
Apple added the concept of a “secure
token” on top of FileVault to ensure that
only macOS accounts with the right level
of permission can initiate a FileVault
encryption conversion and have access
to it. In some cases, such as with my
laptop, the secure token would be
dropped from all accounts, making
FileVault encryption impossible.
Before starting, check that FileVault still
can’t be enabled (via steps 6, 7, and 8
below). My iMac also lacked a secure
token and FileVault wasn’t an option
months ago. One of the incremental
Mojave updates must have taken care of it,
as it’s now available and working.