Written by
Sherry Song
Summary: I was decrypting a drive from the Recovery menu and I restarted the machine, then the decryption was Paused at 42%. I used 'diskutil apfs' and tried to verify/repair the disk option but it is still paused. Please tell me, how can I resume the paused APFS decryption process?
There are various situations related to APFS volume encryption/decryption issues, such as an encrypted APFS drive not being unlocked with a password, the paused APFS volume encryption/decryption process, etc.
In this article, we are going to show you how to resume the paused APFS decryption process and how to recover lost data after the APFS decryption process paused unexpectedly.
The Prior fix: Recover lost data from the paused decryption APFS drive
If the APFS decryption process is paused and cannot be resumed with some common fixes that we will take later, you will have no access to the encrypted APFS drive. Don't worry, you'd better recover lost data from the APFS drive with some professional data recovery tools.
iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac is trustworthy APFS data recovery software for macOS 14 Sonoma/macOS 13 Ventura/12 Monterey/macOS Big Sur 11/Catalina 10.15... and works fine on M2, M…M1 Pro, and M1 Max Mac.
It's able to recover lost data after APFS encryption stuck/paused/interrupted/froze, recover lost data after APFS decryption failed, recover lost data from damaged/corrupted APFS partition, as well as recover lost data from unmountable/unreadable/inaccessible drives. Download it and have a try~
Let's recover lost data after the paused APFS decryption with iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac.
- Free download, install, and open iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac.
- Select the drive that contains your APFS encrypted volume and click Search for Lost Data.
- Preview the listed search results, choose the files you need, and then click Recover to save them to another place.
- Make sure you have all the lost files back.
After finding all your lost data and doing a data backup, let's how to resume the paused APFS decryption process and share this useful tool with more people.
Preparation to resume paused APFS decryption process
Once the APFS decryption process is paused, check the things below first:
- Keep your Mac plugged in: Decrypting a volume is resource-intensive and can take time. Ensure your Mac is connected to a power source.
- Avoid interruptions: Try to avoid pausing or interrupting the decryption process once it has resumed.
Resume paused APFS decryption process: Reset NVRAM/PRAM
You can also attempt to reset the NVRAM/PRAM to resume the paused APFS decryption process.
Restart your Mac and simultaneously press the "Command+Option+P+R" keys for about 20 seconds. After restarting finished, the paused APFS decryption might have been resumed.
Resume paused APFS decryption process: Using Terminal commands
Mac Terminal is a useful tool to fix some macOS problems like the stuck APFS decryption, you can follow:
- Finder > Applications > Utilities > Terminal.
- Type diskutil apfs list to list all APFS volumes.
- Type sudo diskutil apfs decryptVolume <identifier>.
(Replace <identifier> with the appropriate disk identifier.) - Check the APFS volume's status.
Resume paused APFS decryption process: Using Mac Safe Mode
Mac Safe Mode can fix many issues with the drives, please follow to fix APFS decryption paused.
- Restart your Mac and hold the Shift key until you see the login window. This starts your Mac in Safe Mode.
- Log in and open Disk Utility or Terminal to check if the decryption has resumed.
Maybe you have succeed in resuming APFS decryption process on Mac, why don't you share to help more people?
Final words
Resuming paused APFS decryption process on a Mac can typically be handled the fixes above. You'd better do a data recovery and backup with iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac before fixing it.
Make sure to keep your system updated and maintain regular backups to avoid complications in the future.
