How to Disable BitLocker in Windows 11 and 10

Jul. 9, 2024

In case you are unaware, the latestWindows 11 version 24H2enables Device Encryption aka BitLocker by default after a clean installation. The problem with this approach is that many users don’t even know that BitLocker is turned on, and have no idea about the recovery key saved to their Microsoft account. Often, this has led to data loss since the drive is fully encrypted and the user can’t find the recovery key. So if you want to prevent that and disable BitLocker in Windows 11 and 10, follow our guide below.

Method 1: Disable BitLocker From the Control Panel

The easiest way to disable BitLocker on your Windows PC is using the Control Panel.

Apart from Control Panel, Windows Settings also lets you turn off BitLocker. Here’s how you do it.

You can also disable BitLocker using the Windows Command Prompt program. Here’s how to do it.

You can also turn off BitLocker using Windows PowerShell on your PC.

So these are the four ways to disable Device Encryption on your Windows 11 or 10 PC. In my testing, the decryption process took a long time, as much as the encryption process. So keep your PC plugged in until the process is completed. If you want toencrypt individual files and folders on your Windows PC, follow our guide for some great apps. And if you have any questions, let us know in the comments below.

Passionate about Windows, ChromeOS, Android, security and privacy issues. Have a penchant to solve everyday computing problems.