iMac repairs with sensitive data on my desktop

[puke spuey]

if i take my iMac in for repairs and there is stuff on my desktop like a list of my bank passwords or um, personal pics of my wife, is my data safe from prying eyes?

 

[jonblatho]

Turn on FileVault (System Preferences > Security & Privacy > FileVault) if you’re concerned about someone seeing what’s on your machine.

 

[puke spuey]

i cant turn my mac on, its broken

 

[rpmurray]

If it's a 2009 27 inch iMac then it should be easy enough to remove the hard drive, especially if you've already opened it up to replace the power supply.

 

[puke spuey]

ok, that i could do, i could get it repaired without them having my hard drive.... im just not sure if the hard drive is the problem.
thanks!

 

[wardie]

Have you got a backup? May change next steps. For future, as well as file vault you could use a password manager to add a second layer of security to data like that.