Easily Encrypt a Thumb Drive (Mac)

I carry a USB thumb drive with copies of my current projects, presentations, and critical files. Sure, I have multiple backups of all of my files from both my laptop and desktop, but I just want some extra insurance. It occurred to me that by carrying the drive with me, I risk loosing it. Not really a big deal, since I have copies of all of the files. But what if the drive fell into the wrong hands?

So I started looking for a good way to encrypt the data on the drive. And I found it (for Mac that is). It turns out that encryption is built into Disk Utility on every Mac. It's quite simple. Insert your drive into your computer and start up Disk Utility. Select your drive in the left hand panel, then select the erase tab at the top of the right hand panel. In the "Format" drop down menu, select "Mac OS Extended (Journaled, Encrypted)". Give your disk a name, then click "Erase". You will be asked for a password, and a password hint. After about a minute, the disk is erased and reformatted as an encrypted drive.

The first time you insert your drive into your computer, you will be asked for the password. If you click the "Remember this password in my keychain" box, then your computer will remember the password, and you can use the disk like a regular drive. Of course, if you insert it into another computer, you will be asked for the password.

One important note, the reformatted drive will only work on a Mac. If you need to use the drive on a Windows machine you need to use a different encryption method. Since my household is 100% Mac, this procedure has been working just fine for me.