How to disable BitLocker on Windows 11

  • To turn off BitLocker on Windows 11, open

    Settings

    >

    Storage

    >

    Advanced storage settings

    >

    Disks & volumes

    , select the drive, click

    Properties,

    click

    Turn off BitLocker,

    and click

    Turn off BitLocker

    again from the Manage BitLocker page in Control Panel.
  • Another way to disable BitLocker, open

    PowerShell (admin)

    and run the

    Disable-BitLocker -MountPoint C:

    and

    $BLV = Get-BitLockerVolume

    and

    Disable-BitLocker -MountPoint $BLV

    commands.

In this post, you will discover how to disable BitLocker (or suspend the feature) in Windows 11 in at least two different ways, using the Settings app and PowerShell commands. BitLocker has a catch, even if it lets you encrypt a drive to shield your data from unwanted access. Certain tasks, such updating non-Microsoft software or upgrading to a newer version of Windows 11 or when the system needs to apply a firmware upgrade, may cause issues.

You don’t have to turn off the encryption feature if it’s giving you problems. All you need to do is pause the feature, finish the task, and then launch BitLocker again. In the event that you no longer require encryption to protect your data, BitLocker can be fully disabled. On Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, and Education, you can use PowerShell or the Settings app to accomplish these actions.

If you have Windows 11 Home, you must follow these steps to turn off BitLocker device encryption.

This tutorial will show you how to turn off BitLocker on Windows 11 either permanently or temporarily.

  • Disable BitLocker permanently on Windows 11

  • Disable BitLocker temporarily on Windows 11

Disable BitLocker permanently on Windows 11

Using PowerShell and the Settings app, you can completely disable BitLocker if you wish to stop using it.

Follow these instructions to turn off BitLocker on Windows 11:

OpenSettings on Windows 11.

Select “Storage.”

Select “Advanced storage settings” from the Storage management section.

On Disks & Volumes, click.

Disks & volumes

In order to turn off encryption, choose the drive.

Click the Properties button after selecting the volume.

Open fixed data drive properties

From the Manage BitLocker page, select the Turn off BitLocker option to turn off BitLocker.

Open BitLocker for fixed drive

Click the “Turn off BitLocker” option under the “Operating system drive” section.

Press the “Turn off BitLocker” button once more.

Windows 11 disable BitLocker

Once the procedures are finished, BitLocker will turn off encryption on the designated drive in Windows 11.

Turn off BitLocker temporarily from PowerShell

Follow these instructions to use PowerShell commands to disable BitLocker on Windows 11:

LaunchStart.

Look up “PowerShell,” then right-click on the first result and choose “Run as administrator.”

To turn off BitLocker in Windows 11, use the following command and hit Enter:

PowerShell disable BitLocker

(Selective) In Windows 11, type the following command into BitLocker for all drives, then hit Enter:

After you finish the procedures, Windows 11 will decrypt the drive and permanently disable BitLocker.

Disable BitLocker temporarily on Windows 11

BitLocker encryption on Windows 11 may be disabled in at least two ways using PowerShell and the Settings app.

Use these procedures to temporarily disable BitLocker on a Windows 11 drive:

OpenSettings on Windows 11.

Select “Storage.”

Select “Advanced storage settings” from the Storage management section.

On Disks & Volumes, click.

Disks & volumes

To halt encryption, pick the protected drive.

Click the Properties button after selecting the volume.

Settings app drive properties

To access the Control Panel’s Manage BitLocker page, choose the Turn off BitLocker option.

Windows 11 turn on BitLocker option

Click the “Suspend protection” option under the “Operating system drive” section.

Windows 11 suspend BitLocker

After you finish the procedures, the encryption protection will be momentarily removed, enabling you to upgrade firmware and non-Microsoft apps.

You can follow the same steps as before if you want to resume, but in step 8, be sure to activate the Resume protection option and click the Yes button.

Turn off BitLocker temporarily from PowerShell

Use these procedures to suspend BitLocker using PowerShell commands:

LaunchStart.

Look up “PowerShell,” then right-click on the first result and choose “Run as administrator.”

To suspend BitLocker on the system drive, use the following command and hit Enter:

PowerShell suspend BitLocker

The system will temporarily disable BitLocker on the system drive once you finish the procedures, enabling you to carry out various actions that could otherwise cause issues. The number of times the computer will reboot before turning BitLocker back on is specified by the -RebootCount 0 option. The number can be changed up to fifteen.

Use the same steps as above, except in step 3, execute the Resume-BitLocker -MountPoint “C:” command if you wish to start the protection again right away.

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