Why is there a lock icon on the drive and how to remove it?

Why is there a lock icon on the drive in Windows 10?

Windows 10 has two built-in encryption features. The first one is BitLocker and it is only available for Pro and Enterprise users. The second is called Device Encryption and is available to all users, including Windows 10 Home users.

If you see a lock icon on your drive and are using Windows 10 Home, or if you're sure you're not using BitLocker, it's due to the Device Encryption feature.

Why is there a lock icon on the drive and how to remove it? Picture 1

While Device Encryption is available to all Windows 10 users, it is only automatically enabled when the following requirements are met:

1. Your laptop or desktop must have a TPM (Trusted Platform Module) chip version 2 on .
2. Supports Modern Standby feature.
3. Has modern UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface).
4. TPM functionality is enabled via UEFI.
5. You need to sign in to Windows 10 with a Microsoft account.

If you don't use BitLocker and don't want to use the Device Encryption feature, follow the steps below to turn off Device Encryption and remove the lock icon from the drive in Windows 10.

How to remove the lock icon on the drive in Windows 10

To remove the lock icon on drives in Windows 10, you must turn off the Device Encryption feature. Here's how:

1. Open the Settings app in Windows 10.

2. Click 'Update & Security' .

3. Select 'Device Encryption' on the sidebar.

Why is there a lock icon on the drive and how to remove it? Picture 2

4. Click "Turn off" on the right panel. As soon as you click this button, Windows 10 will turn off Device Encryption and automatically decrypt all encrypted drives. The decryption process will take some time to complete. You can use the system normally while this is happening.

5. Device Encryption is now disabled and the lock icon is removed from the drive. From now on, you will no longer see the lock icon on drives in Windows 10.

Why is there a lock icon on the drive and how to remove it? Picture 3

Note : If you are using BitLocker, you must turn off BitLocker to remove the padlock icon.

Lesley Montoya

Update 19 July 2024