How to Turn off BitLocker on C Drive in Windows 11/10 [4 Ways]

What should you know before turning off BitLocker on C drive?

BitLocker is a full-disk encryption feature included in Microsoft Windows operating systems. It is designed to protect the data on a computer's hard drive or other storage devices by encrypting the entire disk. For example, many Windows users choose to enable BitLocker system drive encryption to prevent unauthorized access.

But sometimes, people are looking for the answer to how to turn off BitLocker on C drive, especially when encountering some computer problems like Windows 10/11 update stuck or failed. According to our experience, there will be other situations where BitLocker needs to be closed, including:

★ You need to replace the motherboard.

★ Advanced startup settings are required to be modified.

★ There are more than two system disks or boots on the same computer.

★ Want to replace CPU/memory/graphics card/network card or install a hard drive.

★ When you update BIOS.

However, you should think about your system data security if you plan to remove BitLocker encryption from C drive since all data will be exposed once you turn it off.

But don’t worry, this post will introduce you 4 ways how to disable BitLocker on C drive. All these methods are very safe and reliable, so you can apply them without damaging your computer.

How to turn off BitLocker on C drive?

In this part, we’ll show you 4 different ways how to turn off BitLocker on C drive.

Way 1. Turn off BitLocker via the computer system setting

The most common way is to get into the computer system setting, but please note that you have administrative privileges to perform these actions:

Step 1. Right-click on a space on the desktop, open Settings on the computer and click on "Storage".

Step 2. Under the "Storage management" section, click on Advanced storage settings.

Step 3. Now, click on "Disks & volumes" and select the drive to turn off encryption.

Step 4. Choose the volume and click the "Properties" button.

Step 5. Click the "Turn off BitLocker" option from the "Manage BitLocker" page.

Step 6. Under the "Operating system drive" section, click the "Turn off BitLocker" option.

Step 7. Then, click the "Turn off BitLocker" button again.

The decryption process for your disk has commenced in Windows, and it may take a while, particularly if your drive holds a significant amount of data. Feel free to continue working on your files as usual during this time.

Way 2. Run CMD to turn off BitLocker

Alternatively, you can turn off BitLocker on C drive Windows 11/10 using the Command Prompt (CMD), following these steps:

Step 1. Right-click on the Start Menu, and choose "Command Prompt". This step is crucial as administrative privileges are required to manage BitLocker. 

Step 2. Then type "manage-bde –unlock C: -pw".

Step 3. Type “manage-bde –off C:” and hit Enter.

Step 4. After turning off BitLocker, it's a good practice to restart your computer to apply the changes.

Tip: Please note that the commands are case-insensitive. Additionally, be cautious when using the Command Prompt, as it grants powerful access to system settings and administrative privileges are needed to manage BitLocker.

Way 3. Turn off BitLocker using PowerShell

In addition, you can also choose to use PowerShell command to turn off BitLocker on C drive Windows 10/11. Here are the steps:

Step 1. Right-click the Start menu, select Windows PowerShell (Admin), and click on Yes to run the program.

Step 2. Use the following PowerShell command:

Disable-BitLocker -MountPoint "C:"

Step 3. Allow some time for the decryption process to finish. After completing these steps, BitLocker protection will be turned off, and the C drive will be decrypted.

Way 4. Use the third-party tool for Windows Home BitLocker

Above, we introduced you to 3 methods to turn off BitLocker on C drive. But you may still encounter some situations in which Bitlocker cannot be closed, for example, BitLocker is not available on Windows 10 or 11 Home Edition. If you're using Windows Home and wish to deactivate BitLocker for your C drive, your option is limited to employing third-party software such as AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional.

This comprehensive encryption software is compatible with all versions of Windows 11/10/8/7, providing effortless management of your BitLocker drive. It facilitates tasks such as drive encryption/decryption, recovery key backup, password modification, and drive locking/unlocking.

If you are a Windows Home user or find the above three methods not working, you can follow the steps below to see how to turn off BitLocker on C drive Windows 11/10/8/7:

Step 1. Find the C drive and click the option "Turn off BitLocker". (Here we take D drive as an example.)

Step 2. There are two available methods for decrypting the drive: Using a password or Using the recovery key. Please choose the appropriate method based on your requirements.

If you select "Using a password" to decrypt the drive, please enter the right password and then click the "Decryption" button.

If you select "Using the 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 "Decryption" button.

Step 3. Subsequently, the decryption process will commence, and it may require some time to complete. Once the decryption process finishes, kindly select  "Completed". At this point, the BitLocker protection on C drive will be successfully decrypted.

Conclusion

If you don’t know how to turn off BitLocker on C drive, there are 4 different ways to do it, but you need to note that BitLocker can protect disk data. When you turn it off, you need to consider data security. As you can see, AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional shows great power in disabling BitLocker no matter which disk you want to close, or what systems you are working with.

Besides, it offers more advanced features to manage your computer and disks better, such as cloning disks as backup, and helping you clone a hard drive to SSD/HDD for upgrading to a larger or faster storage device without any data loss. It also has the Server edition for Windows Server users.