BitLocker is available on Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, and Education, and while it’s not available for the Home edition, Windows 11 still provide device encryption in specific devices, such as Surface Pro 9, Laptop 5, and others. When turning on encryption on the drive, any data becomes scrambled using the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption algorithm to encrypt the data in the entire drive, and no one can access it without the correct password, even if you share the file with other people. Windows 11 offers two types of encryption: “BitLocker” to encrypt and protect the operating system and fixed data drives and “BitLocker To Go” to encrypt removable drives that you can access from different devices. BitLocker requires a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip for the best experience, and since you can’t install Windows 11 on a device without TPM, it’s no longer necessary to check and configure the security feature. If you have an older version, such as Windows 10, you can turn on BitLocker with TPM or software-based encryption, but it requires extra steps for additional authentication. This guide will teach you the steps to manage BitLocker on a Windows 11 drive, fixed and data drives, and USB removable storage. If you use Windows 11 Home, use the device encryption instructions instead. (See also this video tutorial on the Pureinfotech YouTube channel with the instructions to complete this task.)
Enable BitLocker encryption on Windows 11 Enable BitLocker on fixed data drive on Windows 11 Enable BitLocker To Go on USB flash drive on Windows 11 Disable BitLocker on Windows 11
Enable BitLocker encryption on Windows 11
To “turn on BitLocker” on a Windows 11 drive, use these steps: Once you complete the steps, the computer will restart to enable BitLocker. However, depending on the amount of data available on the drive, BitLocker will continue to encrypt the used space in the background.
If you used the Microsoft account option to save the BitLocker recovery key, then, later on, you can find the keys in the device BitLocker recovery keys section of your account.
Enable BitLocker on fixed data drive on Windows 11
To turn BitLocker on a secondary drive, use these steps: After you complete the steps, BitLocker will encrypt the entire volume on the secondary drive.
Save to your Microsoft account. Save to a USB flash drive. Save to a file. Print the recovery.
Enable BitLocker To Go on USB flash drive on Windows 11
To set up BitLocker To Go on a USB flash drive on Windows 11, use these steps: Once you complete the steps, the data inside the USB portable drive will be encrypted with BitLocker To Go.
Save to your Microsoft account. Save to a file. Print the recovery.
Disable BitLocker on Windows 11
To disable BitLocker on any drive, use these steps: After you complete the steps, Windows 11 will begin decrypting the drive, but the process could take some time, depending on the amount of data.
All content on this site is provided with no warranties, express or implied. Use any information at your own risk. Always backup of your device and files before making any changes. Privacy policy info.
