BitLocker encryption in Windows 10 is a simple solution for users to encrypt and protect their data. Without any hassle, this software provides a secure environment for all your information. Consequently, users have grown to rely on Windows BitLocker to keep their data safe. However, some users have also reported issues, namely incompatibility between the encrypted drive on Windows 7 and the one used later in Windows 10. In some cases, you may need to disable BitLocker to ensure that your personal data remains safe and secure during this transfer or reinstallation. For those who don't know how to disable BitLocker in Windows 10, here is a step-by-step guide to help you.
How to disable BitLocker in Windows 10
When you disable BitLocker on Windows 10, all files will be decrypted, and your data will no longer be protected. Therefore, only disable it if you are sure it is safe.
Note: BitLocker is not available by default on computers running Windows 10 Home edition. It is available on Windows 7, 8, 10 Enterprise, and Professional editions.
The first method: through the control panel
Disabling BitLocker is easy, and the procedure is almost the same in Windows 10 as in other versions through the Control Panel.
1. Press the . key Windows And write management BitLocker.Then click on Enter.
2. This will bring up a window. BitLocker , where you can see all the sections. Click on Turn off BitLocker to disable it.
Note: You can also choose to temporarily suspend protection.
3. Click Decrypt Drive and enter password , when prompted.
4. Once the process is complete, you will get an option Turn on BitLocker For the respective drives, as shown.
Here, BitLocker will be permanently deactivated for the selected disk.
Method 2: Through the Settings app
Here's how to disable BitLocker by turning off device encryption through Windows Settings:
1. Go to menu START YOUR and click Settings.
2. Next, tap the system , as shown.
3. Click About from the right part.
4. In the left pane, select the section. Device encryption Click Stop.
5. Finally, in the confirmation dialog box, click Shutdown once again.
BitLocker should now be deactivated on your computer.
Method 3: Use the Local Group Policy Editor
If the above methods don't work for you, disable BitLocker by changing the group policy, as follows:
1. Press the . key Windows Type group policy. Then, click the option Release Group policy, as described.
2. Click formation Computer on the right side.
3. Click on Templates. Administration> Windows components.
4. Then click BitLocker Drive Encryption.
5. Now, click on fixed data drives.
6. Double-click on Access denied To write to hard drives not protected by BitLocker, as described below.
7. In the new window, select not configured Or broken. Then clickApplication“> OK” to save the changes.
8. Finally, Restart Windows 10 computer to perform decryption.
Method 4: Through the command prompt
This is the simplest and fastest way to disable BitLocker in Windows 10.
1. Press the . key Windows Type command prompt. Then, click Run as administrator.
2. Type the command: manager-bde -off X: and press the key Enter to implement.
Note: Change X to the letter that corresponds to your hard drive partition.
Note: The decryption process will now begin. Do not interrupt this process as it may take a long time.
3. The following information will appear on the screen when: BitLocker Decryption.
Transfer status: Not fully encrypted
Encryption percentage: 0.0%
Method 5: Through PowerShell
If you are a power user, you can use command lines to disable BitLocker as described in this method.
Method 5A: For a single drive
1. Press the . key Windows And type PowerShell. Then, click Run as administrator as shown.
2. Type the command Disable-BitLocker -MountPoint “X:” Press Enter to run it.
Note: Change X to the letter that corresponds to your hard drive partition.
After the procedure, the drive will be unlocked, and BitLocker will be turned off for that drive.
Method 5b. For all drives
You can also use PowerShell To disable BitLocker for all hard drives on your Windows 10 computer.
1. Turn on PowerShell As an administrator as described before.
2. Type the following commands and press Enter:
$BLV = Get-BitLockerVolume
Disable-BitLocker -MountPoint $BLV
A list of encrypted folders will be displayed and the decryption process will start.
Method 6: Disable BitLocker
If you want to disable BitLocker, do so by deactivating the service, as described below.
1. Press the keys Windows + R At the same time to start the dialog box “running".
2. Here, type services.msc and click OK.
3. In the Services windows, double-click BitLocker Drive Encryption Service The one shown is shaded.
4. Set the startup type to broken from the dropdown menu.
5. Finally, tap Application> OK.
You must turn off BitLocker on your device after deactivating the BitLocker service.
Method 7: Use another computer to disable BitLocker
If none of the above methods work for you, your only option is to reinstall the encrypted hard drive on a separate computer and then attempt to disable BitLocker using the methods above. This will decrypt the drive, allowing you to use it on your Windows 10 computer. This should be done with extreme caution, as it may trigger the recovery process instead. Read here To learn more about this.
Pro Tip: System Requirements for BitLocker
Listed below are the system requirements needed to enable BitLocker encryption on your Windows 10 desktop/laptop. You can also read our guide on How to enable and set up BitLocker encryption on Windows 10 here.
- Your PC must have Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2 or later. If your PC doesn't have a TPM, there must be a startup key on a removable device such as a USB stick.
- A computer with a TPM must have a Trusted Computing Group (TCG) compliant BIOS or UEFI firmware.
- It must also support the fixed root of the confidence measure defined by TCG.
- The USB mass storage device must support reading small files on a USB flash drive in the pre-OS environment.
- The hard disk must be partitioned with at least two drives: the operating system drive/boot drive and the secondary drive/system drive.
- Both drives must be formatted with the FAT32 file system on computers using UEFI-based firmware or the NTFS file system on computers using BIOS firmware.
- The system drive must be: unencrypted, approximately 350MB in size, and offer enhanced storage support for hardware-encrypted drives.
We hope this guide was helpful and that you learned how to disable BitLocker. Please let us know which method you found most effective. Also, feel free to ask questions or leave suggestions in the comments section below.
