How to Disable BitLocker Encryption in Windows 10 and 11

Do you need to disable BitLocker? BitLocker is a data encryption feature that is built into Windows that allows you to encrypt data on your PC in order to protect it. BitLocker is a feature of Windows Pro, Windows Enterprise, and Windows Education editions. When a drive is encrypted through BitLocker, it can make the data hard to access from a different computer. This wikiHow teaches you how to turn off your Windows computer's BitLocker encryption.

Things You Should Know

Open the Start menu and type "manage BitLocker." Open the "Manage BitLocker" option and expand the drive you want to decrypt. Click "Turn off BitLocker."
Open the Command Prompt as an Administrator and type "manage-bde -off <drive letter>:" and press Enter.
Open Powershell as an administrator and type "Disable-BitLocker -MountPoint "<drive letter>:" and press Enter

Method 1

Method 1 of 4:

Using Control Panel

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Click the Windows logo in the bottom-left corner of the screen. The Start menu will pop up.
This will display the "manage Bitlocker" Control Panel option in the Windows Start menu.

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It should be at the top of the Start menu. It has an icon that resembles a hard drive with a set of keys over the top. Clicking this option opens the BitLocker Control Panel page.
4
Click
to expand the correct hard drive. Scroll down until you find the drive for which you want to disable BitLocker. Click the icon that resembles a bracket pointing down to expand the drive you want to decrypt.
- Skip this step if BitLocker is only encrypting one hard drive.
- You can use BitLocker to encrypt and decrypt internal hard drives and removable USB drives.
It's a link below and to the right of the BitLocker heading.
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Click Turn Off BitLocker when prompted. Doing so causes BitLocker to begin decrypting your drive. This can take several hours to complete.
- You may be asked to enter your Administrator password or PIN before BitLocker will begin turning off.
- It may take a while for Windows to completely decrypt the drive you want to decrypt. You can continue to use your computer in the meantime.

Method 2

Method 2 of 4:

Using the Command Prompt

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It's the button with the Windows logo in the taskbar at the bottom of the screen. This displays the Windows Start menu.
This displays the Command Prompt in the Windows Start menu.
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Right-click the Command Prompt icon
and click {{MacButton|Run as Administrator. This opens the Command Prompt with administrative privileges.
- If you are not signed in to an administrative account, you may be asked to enter an administrative password.
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Type manage-bde -off <drive letter>: and press ↵ Enter. Replace "<drive letter>" with the drive letter that you want to decrypt. This will decrypt that drive.^{[1]
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- For example, if you want to decrypt your C: drive, you would type manage-bde -off C: and press Enter.
- To check the status of BitLocker in the Command Prompt, type manage-bde -status and press Enter.

Method 3

Method 3 of 4:

Using PowerShell

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Right-clicking the Windows Start menu displays a context menu with a variety of system applications.
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Click Windows Powershell (admin). This opens Powershell with administrative privileges.
- If you are not signed in to an administrative account, you may be asked to enter an administrative password.
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Type Disable-BitLocker -MountPoint "<drive letter>:" and press ↵ Enter. Replace "<drive letter>" with the letter of the drive you want to decrypt. This will decrypt the drive.
- For example, if you want to decrypt your C: drive, you would type Disable-BitLocker -MountPoint "C:" and press Enter.
- If you want to check the status of BitLocker, type Get-BitLockerVolume and press Enter.^{[2]
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- To decrypt all drives, type Disable-BitLocker -MountPoint $BLV and press Enter.^{[3]
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Method 4

Method 4 of 4:

Unlocking BitLocker

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Find your recovery key. When you set up BitLocker on your computer, you were given a 48-digit recovery key to use when you forget your BitLocker password. You'll need to find this key before you can unlock BitLocker:^{[4]
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- If you printed out your recovery key, look for it in any location in which you keep important documents.
- If you saved your recovery key as a text file on a USB drive, plug the USB drive into a different Windows computer to open the text file and view the key.
- If your system administrator or IT professional set up BitLocker for you, contact them for specific instructions on getting back your key.
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Start your computer if necessary. If your computer isn't already turned on to the BitLocker screen, turn on your computer.
- If your computer is turned on to the BitLocker screen, skip this step and the next one.
It can take several minutes for the BitLocker login screen to open.
Doing so indicates that you want to enter the recovery key instead of your BitLocker password.^{[5]
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Type the 48-digit recovery key into the provided text box at the top of the screen.
This will submit your key.
Depending on your computer, you may have additional options after submitting your key. Once you've navigated through any extra prompts, you're free to turn off BitLocker from within Settings.

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Question

What if this device can't use a Trusted Platform Module?

Aasim

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If your device does not have a TPM, you still can use BitLocker. It is just not possible to use Trusted Boot, meaning the TPM verifies the boot loader before booting. Secure Boot still works, but it is not as good as Trusted Boot.

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If you aren't asked to enter a BitLocker password when booting up your computer, BitLocker probably isn't enabled.

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Warnings

BitLocker is not available for Windows 10 Home edition users, and some Windows 10 and 11computers may not have the proper hardware settings enabled to support BitLocker in the first place.

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