Can’t turn off BitLocker in Windows 11, 10, 8, 7? Don’t worry, this article will tell you the possible reasons and quick fixes to it. Besides, you will get a reliable alternative for all Windows BitLocker here.
Hey there, I was intending to install ubuntu on my PC, but to do this, I have to disable BitLocker encryption. I tried to decrypt it from the settings, and all I got was this:
BitLocker is a disk encryption program that comes with the Windows operating system and is designed to enhance data security. Here are some common reasons and solutions for why BitLocker cannot be turned off:
Group Policy or Active Directory settings: If your computer is part of a domain, your network administrator may enforce Group Policy settings that prevent you from turning off BitLocker. In this case, you may need to contact your IT department for assistance.
Administrator rights: Make sure you have the necessary administrative rights to manage BitLocker. If you are not logged in as an administrator, you may not have the necessary permissions to disable BitLocker.
TPM (Trusted Platform Module) requirements: BitLocker may use a TPM for secure key storage. If BitLocker requires a TPM but is not enabled or configured correctly, you may not be able to turn off BitLocker. Check the computer's BIOS or UEFI settings to ensure that the TPM is enabled and configured.
Encryption in progress: If BitLocker is currently encrypting your drive, you may need to wait until the process is complete before turning off BitLocker. You can check the status of the encryption process in BitLocker settings.
External devices: BitLocker might be protecting an external drive or other removable media. Make sure that the external device you are using does not use BitLocker encryption.
System drive requirements: BitLocker may require that the system drive is fully encrypted. If you try to turn off BitLocker for your system drive, make sure all required partitions are encrypted.
BitLocker recovery key: If you lose your BitLocker recovery key or cannot provide the correct key, you may not be able to turn off BitLocker. Before trying to disable BitLocker, make sure you have access to the recovery key.
When you encounter the "can't turn off BitLocker Windows 11" problem, you might have to check out the possible reasons one by one, which certainly wastes lots of time and energy. Since we know BitLocker is a full-disk encryption feature included in some editions of Microsoft Windows that is designed to help protect the data by encrypting the entire disk, why not consider a more powerful and versatile tool to turn on and turn off BitLocker encryption for the target drive in a secure way?
Here, AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional is highly recommended to you. As the best alternative to Windows built-in BitLocker, it shows remarkable advantages in encrypting drives:
✔ User-friendly design: Its easy-to-use interface and step-by-step guide give users a good experience, especially for beginners.
✔ High compatibility: It works on almost all Windows 11, 10, 8, 7 systems, including Windows Home Edition.
✔ Versatile features: It offers users various functions to manage BitLocker drives such as turn on/off BitLocker, backing up recovery key, changing password, and locking/unlocking drive.
Now, follow the steps below to see how to enable and disable BitLocker in AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional:
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.)
Tip: It only supports encrypting NTFS partitions. Other partition file systems like FAT or FAT32 cannot be encrypted.
Step 3. Please set a password to encrypt the drive and select a way to back up your recovery key. Then, please click the "Next" button to start the encryption process.
If you would like to encrypt your current system drive, you will be required to restart your PC to enter into the Windows PE environment.
Step 4. 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.
If you no longer need to protect your hard drive, keep on reading to get the steps:
Step 1. Find the encrypted drive you would like to decrypt and click the option "Turn off BitLocker".
Step 2. There are 2 ways available to decrypt the drive: Use password to decrypt the drive and Use recovery key to decrypt the drive.
If you select "Use a password to decrypt the drive", please enter the right password and then click the "Decrypt" button.
If you select "Use a recovery key to decrypt the drive", please enter the recovery key saved in the TXT file or printed when you encrypted the drive, and then click the "Decrypt" button.
Step 3. Then, the decryption process will start and it might take time to decrypt the drive. Once the decryption process is finished, please click "Completed". Finally, the BitLocker on the drive is decrypted.
If you can't turn off BitLocker again, AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional is a good alternative to BitLocker for you to encrypt and decrypt the disk so that you can easily avoid such an issue.
Moreover, this software also offers other features to protect your data such as cloning hard drive from one drive to another, migrating OS to SSD, moving apps/folders to another drive, and more.