Enable or Disable BitLocker for encrypted Data Drives in Windows 10

In this article, we will show you how to enable or disable BitLocker to encrypt or decrypt fixed and removable data drives in Windows 10. BitLocker is a feature that can help you encrypt the drives on your computer. When you enable BitLocker, the new files are automatically encrypted when you add them to a drive. When you copy these files to another drive or PC, they are automatically decrypted.

Enable or disable BitLocker for data drives

To enable BitLocker, open Explorer and right-click on the data drive. (for example. E: ) you want to encrypt and select Enable bitlocker.

Choose how (Password, Smartcard, or Automatically) you want to unlock this player and click on Next.

the Automatically unlock this player on this calculationr This option will only be available if the operating system drive has already been encrypted by BitLocker.

Select how (Microsoft account, USB, file, and Impression) you want to back up your BitLocker recovery key for this drive, and then click Next.

the Microsoft account This option is only available when you are logged on to Windows 10 with a Microsoft account. The BitLocker recovery key will then be saved to your OneDrive online account.

Select the radio button for how much of your drive to encrypt (Encrypt the entire drive is recommended) and click Next.

Select the radio button for which encryption mode (New encryption mode (128-bit XTS-AES) or Compatible mode (AES-CBC 128-bit)) to use, and click Next.

Click on Start encrypting when ready

The fixed data reader will now begin to encrypt.

When encryption is complete, close the wizard.

To disable BitLocker, open a command prompt with elevated privileges, type the following command, and press Enter.

manage-bde -off 

Substituer in the above command with the actual drive letter of the encrypted drive you want to decrypt.

Point: You can check the status of BitLocker for the drive at any time.

Enable or disable BitLocker for removable data drives

BitLocker To Go is BitLocker Drive Encryption on removable data drives. This includes encryption of USB flash drives, SD cards, external hard drives and other drives formatted using NTFS, FAT16, FAT32 or exFAT file systems.

To enable Bitlocker for removable data drives, open the Explorer, right-click the removable data drive that you want to encrypt, and then click Enable bitlocker.

Follow the same steps as mentioned above for fixed data readers.

Once encryption is complete, you will receive a prompt. Click on close.

To disable Bitlocker for removable data drives, open a command prompt with privilege, type the following command, and press ENTER.

manage-bde -off 

Replace in the above command with the actual drive letter of the encrypted drive you want to decrypt. For example:

Thus, you can enable or disable BitLocker for fixed and removable data drives in Windows 10.