BitLocker is very good at protecting your drive and operating system. It will check your system for any security issues at every startup. And if it finds anything suspicious, BitLocker will lock the drive and operating system. You will then need to unlock the drive in order to use it properly again. You have plenty of options to choose from when it comes to unlocking your drive. You can pick a PIN or a Password or an external drive with a startup key as well. So if you are planning on using the BitLocker for your Windows, here are the steps for turning BitLocker on or off.
Tip
BitLocker is only available for Windows 10 Pro, Windows 10 Enterprise, and Windows 10 Education editions. So keep that in mind before trying to get BitLocker for your Windows version. Also, ensure that you drive is in GPT layout mode and also ensure that you are using the UEFI Security Mode in Bios.
Turn On BitLocker
The good thing about BitLocker is that you don’t have to download anything from the internet. BitLocker is available in all versions of Windows (starting from Windows Vista). So, your Windows comes pre-installed with BitLocker. Now, there are multiple ways of turning on the BitLocker depending on a couple of factors. The first thing that will affect the way you turn on your BitLocker is whether you have TPM or not. TPM, if you don’t already know, is Trusted Platform Module Chip. This chip allows systems to have hardware level security related functions. So, a device with a TPM will have a different way of turning on BitLocker when compared to the device with no TPM chip. We can go into a lot of detail for TPM but that’s not the point here. The second factor that affects how you turn on the BitLocker is how you want to unlock the operating system. But, let’s have a look to check whether you have a TPM chip or not.
Check whether you have a TPM or not via Device Manager
If you have a TPM chip then you should be able to see a Trusted Platform Module under Security Devices. If there is no entry named Trusted Platform Module under Security Devices then you don’t have a TPM chip Check whether you have a TPM or not via TPM Management Console
In the middle section of the TPM management console, you should be able to see the status of the TPM. If you don’t have a TPM chip then you will see a message like TPM not found or a variation of that message.
Turn on BitLocker for systems without TPM
If you don’t have a TPM chip on your system then you can turn your BitLocker on by following the steps given below. Also note that this will work if you don’t want to use the TPM (even if your system has it). If your system isn’t using a TPM chip then you can unlock your Operating system either with a password or a USB flash drive.
To Unlock Operating System Drive at Startup with Password or USB flash drive
The steps given below should be followed if you don’t want to use the TPM chip on your board or if you don’t actually have a TPM chip.
Once done, you will be able to unlock your OS with a Password or a USB Flash Drive at the startup. You should skip the next section and go directly to the Options for Turning on BitLocker section. Turn on BitLocker for systems with TPM If you have a TPM chip on your system then you have a wide range of options to unlock your OS at startup. You can choose not to use the TPM chip and unlock via a password or a USB flash drive. You can also use a PIN or a startup key to unlock your OS as well. These are the 4 options available for you. If you don’t want to use the TPM chip and want to unlock your OS with password or USB flash drive then go to the previous section named Turn on BitLocker for system without TPM. Otherwise, continue. Note: If you don’t want to get into the settings and change anything then you can simply skip this section. This section is for the people who want to change the way they unlock the operating system. If you want your computer to automatically unlock your operating system then simply skip the next section and go directly to the Options for Turning on BitLocker section.
To Unlock Operating System Drive at Startup with Configured TPM Settings
Once done, you will be able to unlock your OS with a PIN or a security key at the startup. Now go to the Options for Turning on BitLocker section (next section).
Options for Turning on BitLocker
Turn on BitLocker via context menu
Turn on BitLocker via Manage option
Turn on BitLocker via Control Panel
Turn off BitLocker
You have 3 main options to turn off BitLocker. The options and the steps to perform those tasks are given below Turn Off BitLocker via Command Prompt
You should be able to see a message saying Decryption is in process
Turn Off BitLocker via Powershell
Turn Off BitLocker via BitLocker Manager
You can turn off BitLocker in 3 ways. Turn on BitLocker via context menu:
Turn on BitLocker via Manage option:
Turn on BitLocker via Control Panel:
Once done, you should be good to go.
How to Fix BitLocker Drive Encryption Error (0x8031004A)[FIX] Unable to Turn on BitLocker for USB DrivesHow to encrypt system partition by using BitLocker without TPMFix: Turn windows features on and off is blank or empty in Windows 11
