BitLocker Protection Status Off but Encrypted? How to Fix?

What does BitLocker protection status off mean?

"During a large scale bitlocker deployment on laptops, many endpoints respond with a bitlocker protection status set to off, although encryption is set to on. What scenario would cause this?"

BitLocker is a full-disk encryption feature included with Microsoft Windows operating systems. When the BitLocker protection status off but encrypted, it generally means that BitLocker has been suspended, so the drive is not currently protected by BitLocker encryption. This can pose a security risk as the data on the drive is not safeguarded.

Several reasons could lead to BitLocker being turned off:

User-initiated action: A user or administrator might have manually turned off BitLocker protection.

Maintenance or upgrades: BitLocker protection might be turned off temporarily during system maintenance, updates, or upgrades to avoid potential issues.

Issues or errors: If there are issues with the system or the BitLocker configuration, it might automatically disable protection to prevent data loss or other complications.

Group Policy changes: If there are changes to Group Policy settings, it could affect BitLocker protection status.

Encryption process incomplete: If the initial encryption process is not completed successfully, BitLocker protection may remain off until the process is successfully completed.

It's important to note that the exact steps to enable or disable BitLocker can vary depending on the Windows version and edition. If you encounter BitLocker protection being off and you didn't intentionally disable it, it's advisable to investigate the cause and take appropriate action to ensure the security of your data.

How do I turn on BitLocker protection status?

Once the BitLocker protection status is set to “off”, you can resume it to “on” by the following three ways.

Way 1. Resume BitLocker protection in Manage BitLocker

Step 1. Click on the Start Menu. In the search box, type "Manage BitLocker", then hit Enter to open the Manage BitLocker window.

Step 2. Navigate to the desired drive with protection status off BitLocker and click "Resume protection" for it.

Way 2. Resume BitLocker protection via Command Prompt

Step 1. Type cmd on the search bar and select Command Prompt to run it as administrator.

Step 2. Then, type the command below in the elevated command prompt, hit Enter.

manage-bde -protectors -enable X:

Replace X  in the command above with the real drive letter of the encrypted drive you want to resume BitLocker protection for. For example:

manage-bde -protectors -enable E:

Step 3. Then exit the command prompt environment, and you can check the status of BitLocker for the drive at any time.

Way 3. Turn on BitLocker protection via PowerSell

Step 1. Right-click on the Start button and select "Windows PowerShell (Admin)".

Step 2. For specific “BitLocker protection status off” drive, use the command:

Resume-BitLocker -MountPoint "X:"

Replace X in the commands above with the actual drive letter of the unlocked encrypted drive. For example:

Resume-BitLocker -MountPoint "C:"

An easier way to keep BitLocker protection status on

Although encountering Windows 10 BitLocker protection status off is annoying, you can follow the above methods to resume the BitLocker protection on. To prevent this from happening again, it’s highly recommended to use a reliable and powerful BitLocker tool like AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional to manage your encrypted drives.

This program can run on almost all Windows 11/10/8/7 editions, which is very friendly to Windows Home users. After encrypting your drive using AOMEI Partition Assistant, your data will always be under safe security and you will never find your BitLocker protection status off but encrypted.

Now, let’s have a look at how to protect your hard drive using BitLocker in Partition Assistant:

Step1. Install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant. Click the "Tools" main tab and select "BitLocker".

Step 2. All drives on the system will be displayed, including operating system drives, fixed data drives, and removable drives. Please find the partition you would like to encrypt BitLocker and click the "Turn on BitLocker" option. (Here, we take the drive D: as an example.)

Step 3. Please set and confirm a password to encrypt the drive and click "Next".

Step 4. Select a way to back up your recovery key. You can either select "Save to a file" or "Print the recovery key".

Step 5. If you select "Save to a file", please choose a location on your PC to save the recovery key.

Then, please click the "Next" button to start the encryption process.

Step 5. The encryption process might take time to encrypt the drive. Before the process is finished, please do not terminate the program, remove the drive, or turn off the power. Once the encryption process is finished, please click "Completed". Finally, the drive is BitLocker encrypted.

Conclusion

When you find your BitLocker protection status off, it means the encryption This post has introduced three simple yet effective ways to resume it. If you want to keep BitLocker protection status always on, you can apply AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional to take the place of Windows built-in BitLocker utility.

In addition to protecting your data by encrypting the entire drive, AOMEI software also offers other useful features out of security such as cloning hard drive to external places, migrate OS to HDD or SSD, resetting forgotten password in time, and more.