How to Turn Off BitLocker

This wikiHow teaches you how to turn off your Windows computer's BitLocker encryption. BitLocker is a feature that's built into most Windows 10 Pro, Education, and Enterprise editions. If you can't decrypt your hard drive in order to turn...

Method 1 of 3:

Using Windows Settings

  1. Picture 1 of How to Turn Off BitLocker
    Open Start
    Picture 2 of How to Turn Off BitLocker
    . Click the Windows logo in the bottom-left corner of the screen. This will open the Start menu.
  2. Picture 3 of How to Turn Off BitLocker
    Open Settings
    Picture 4 of How to Turn Off BitLocker
    . Click the gear-shaped Settings icon in the lower-left corner of the Start menu. The Settings window will pop up.
  3. Picture 5 of How to Turn Off BitLocker
    Click System. This monitor-shaped icon is near the top of the Settings window.
  4. Picture 6 of How to Turn Off BitLocker
    Click the Device encryption tab. It's on the left side of the System window.[1]
    1. If you don't see a Device encryption tab here, try clicking About in the bottom-left corner and then look for a "Device encryption" heading. If that doesn't work, your computer doesn't have BitLocker.
  5. Picture 7 of How to Turn Off BitLocker
    Click Turn off. This button is in the middle of the page.
  6. Picture 8 of How to Turn Off BitLocker
    Click Turn off when prompted. Doing so causes BitLocker to begin decrypting your drive. This can take several hours to complete.
    1. You may be asked to enter your Administrator password or PIN before BitLocker will begin turning off.
Method 2 of 3:

Using Control Panel

  1. Picture 9 of How to Turn Off BitLocker
    Open Start
    Picture 10 of How to Turn Off BitLocker
    . Click the Windows logo in the bottom-left corner of the screen. The Start menu will pop up.
    1. If you're on Windows 7, you'll click the multicolored
      Picture 11 of How to Turn Off BitLocker
      icon.
  2. Picture 12 of How to Turn Off BitLocker
    Search for BitLocker. Type in bitlocker to do so. A list of matching search results will appear in the Start menu.
    1. On Windows 7, you must first click the search bar at the bottom of the Start menu.
  3. Picture 13 of How to Turn Off BitLocker
    Click Manage BitLocker. It should be at the top of the Start menu. Doing so opens the BitLocker Control Panel page.
  4. Picture 14 of How to Turn Off BitLocker
    Find the correct hard drive. Scroll down until you find the drive for which you want to disable BitLocker.
    1. Skip this step if BitLocker is only encrypting one hard drive.
  5. Picture 15 of How to Turn Off BitLocker
    Click Turn Off BitLocker. It's a link below and to the right of the BitLocker heading.
  6. Picture 16 of How to Turn Off BitLocker
    Click Turn Off BitLocker when prompted. Doing so causes BitLocker to begin decrypting your drive. This can take several hours to complete.
    1. You may be asked to enter your Administrator password or PIN before BitLocker will begin turning off.
    2. On Windows 7, you'll click Decrypt Drive here.[2]
Method 3 of 3:

Unlocking BitLocker

  1. Picture 17 of How to Turn Off BitLocker
    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:[3]
    1. If you printed out your recovery key, look for it in any location in which you keep important documents.
    2. 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.
    3. If your system administrator or IT professional set up BitLocker for you, contact them for specific instructions on getting back your key.
  2. Picture 18 of How to Turn Off BitLocker
    Start your computer if necessary. If your computer isn't already turned on to the BitLocker screen, turn on your computer.
    1. If your computer is turned on to the BitLocker screen, skip this step and the next one.
  3. Picture 19 of How to Turn Off BitLocker
    Wait for the BitLocker screen to load. It can take several minutes for the BitLocker login screen to open.
  4. Picture 20 of How to Turn Off BitLocker
    Press Esc. Doing so indicates that you want to enter the recovery key instead of your BitLocker password.[4]
  5. Picture 21 of How to Turn Off BitLocker
    Enter your BitLocker recovery key. Type the 48-digit recovery key into the provided text box at the top of the screen.
  6. Picture 22 of How to Turn Off BitLocker
    Press ↵ Enter. This will submit your key.
  7. Picture 23 of How to Turn Off BitLocker
    Follow the on-screen prompts. 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.
Update 04 March 2020
bitlockerclickkeystart

You should read it

Maybe you are interested

Category

System

Mac OS X

Hardware

Game

Tech info

Technology

Science

Life

Application

Electric

Program

Mobile