How to Disable BitLocker on Windows 10?

Do you find it hard to remove Bitlocker on Windows 10? If yes, we are bringing you some easy and effective ways to get the job done. Learn with us how to disable BitLocker on Windows 10.

The blog has a focal point on the following ideas. It covers 7 methods that you can perform on your Windows 10 to remove BitLocker.

What is BitLocker on Windows?

BitLocker is a built-in encryption feature for Windows Pro or Enterprise version. It is quite helpful to protect your data by providing the encryption for whole volumes, e.g.password protect USB drive.

Furthermore, BitLocker uses an AES encryption algorithm in XTS mode or cipher block chaining mode with 256-bit or 128-bit keys.

For some reasons, if a user does not prefer to keep this feature enabled, they can disable it. However, most users may find it difficult to disable BitLocker on Windows 10. If you are one of those, we will enlighten you about removing Bitlocker.

The tutorial covers a number of methods through which you can learn how to disable BitLocker drive encryption on Windows 10. With no more delays let’s get started.

How Do I Disable BitLocker on Windows 10?

To disable BitLocker on Windows 10, you can use several paths such as Windows Settings, Control Panel, Local Group Policy Editor, PowerShell, or run the Command Prompt. Besides that, you can format encrypted hard drives or disable the BitLocker service directly.

Below we will discuss these different methods with a step by step guide. Let’s follow and find out the ways to disable BitLocker on Windows 10 using PowerShell and other settings.

Note: Some of the methods might require a BitLocker recovery key or password. Make sure you have the correct key or password.

Method 1: Disable BitLocker through Control Panel

In the Control Panel, you will find the option to unlock the drive. If you want to know how to disable BitLocker drive encryption on Windows 10, you can follow the steps instructed below:

• Press the “Windows logo” key or click on the “Start” button.
• Type “Control Panel” in the search bar to open it.
• Click on “System and Security”.
• Select “BitLocker Drive Encryption” option to “Manage BitLocker”.
• Now expand the “BitLocker-protected drive and click on “Unlock drive”.
• Enter the password if prompted.
• Then, click on “Turn off BitLocker”.

Alternatively, you can choose This PC. When you find Devices and Drives, right click on your BitLocker Drive and select Manage Bitlocker option. This will show you a series of a few options. Here, you can pick the Turn off BitLocker option.

This is how you can disable BitLocker on your Windows 10 PC. All you have to remember the password and then you are done. In case, this method does not work for you, move to the next one.

Method 2: Disable BitLocker via Settings

In Windows 10, disable BitLocker with the help of the Settings app. To understand better, you can do the following:

• Press “Windows” + “I” key on your keyboard. This will launch the “Settings” app.
• Click on “System” in the pop-up window.
• Now, select the “About” from the left side.
• Then, find “Device encryption sections” located on the right side.
• Select the “Turn off” option.
• Click “Turn off” again to confirm the action.

Once you are done applying these settings, the BitLocker will be disabled on your Windows 10 computer or laptop.

Method 3: Use Local Group Policy Editor to Disable BitLocker

This method requires you to go through a long path but it will surely help you to disable the BitLocker on your computer. Let’s know how to do this.

• Press “Windows” + “R” key to launch “Run” dialog box.
• Then, type “gpedit.msc” in the text field.
• Press the “Enter” key or click “OK”.
• Now, go to “Computer Configuration”.
• Click on “Administrative Templates”.
• Select the “Windows Components” option.
• Then, choose “BitLocker Drive Encryption”.
• Click on “Fixed Data Drives”.
• Select the “Deny write access to fixed drives not protected by BitLocker” option.
• When you see the pop-up window, select “Disabled” or “Not Configure” located on the left.
• Once done, click on “Apply”.
• Hit the “OK” button to confirm your applied actions.

This way you can remove the BitLocker from your Windows 10 computer. If you are thinking how do I disable BitLocker on Windows 10, the above-mentioned steps would help.

Method 4: Run Command Prompt

Running a command is always effective for a particular problem on your Windows computer. In case, no steps are working properly then you can simply use CMD to get the job done. Below are the following steps one can follow to disable BitLocker using the commands.

• Press “Windows” + “R” key on your keyboard. This will launch the “Run” dialog box.
• Then, type “gpedit.msc” in the text field.
• Press the “Enter” key or click “OK”.

Tip: You can use Ctrl + Shift + Enter key combination to directly launch the Command Prompt as administrator.

• Now enter the following command:

manage -bde -off X:

• Hit the “Enter” key to continue.
• Now replace “X” with the real hard drive letter. For example: manage -bde -off E:

When the decryption process begins, you can wait for a while. Make sure you do not interrupt the process by closing the command prompt window or any other window. After that, you will notice that the BitLocker has been disabled successfully on Windows 10.

Method 5: Disable BitLocker using PowerShell

Most users ask how to disable BitLocker on Windows 10 using PowerShell. If you are one of those then the upcoming instructions are for you:

• In the Windows 10 search bar, type “Windows PowerShell” to open it.
• When it appears in result, right click to select “Run as administrator”.
• Type the following command in the “ Windows PowerShell” window:

Disable-BitLocker -MountPoint “X:”

• Hit the “Enter” key.

Note: Don’t forget to replace the “X” letter with the real encrypted hard drive letter.

If you are thinking how to disable BitLocker drive encryption on Windows 10, these steps will help you.

Besides that, if you prefer to disable BitLocker for all the volumes then you can enter the following commands:

$BLV = Get-BitLockerVolume

Disable-BitLocker -MountPoint $BLVD

Once you are done running the aforementioned commands in CMD window, you will notice the BitLocker is now disabled. This is how you can remove the BitLocker using the PowerShell on Windows 10.

Method 6: Disable the BitLocker Service

Another way to remove Bitlocker from your Windows 10 computer is to access BitLocker Drive Encryption Service and disable the Startup type. To know more it in detail, you can check out the following steps:

• Press “Windows” + “R” key on your keyboard. This will launch the “Run” dialog box.
• Then, type “services.msc” in the text field.
• Press the “Enter” key or click “OK”.
• Double-click on the “BitLocker Drive Encryption Service” in the “Services” window.
• Then, click on “Startup type”.
• Select “Disabled” option.
• Click on the “Apply” and “OK” button.

After applying all the settings, the BitLocker will be disabled successfully on your Windows 10 computer. This is the direct way to remove BitLocker from its service. Yet you find any issue performing this method, you can simply format the encrypted hard drive. Read below.

Method 7: Format the Encrypted Hard Drive

In Windows 10, disable BitLocker by formatting the hard drive on Windows 10. If no method (from the above) works effectively on your computer then this method will help you. To do so, you can follow these steps discussed below:

Note: If there are important files then it is not recommended to format encrypted hard drives to disable BitLocker.

• Click right on the encrypted hard drive and select “Format”.
• When you see “Format USB Drive” pop-up, set your file systems.
• Then, check the “Quick format” option.
• Click on “Start” to continue.

When you are done, the BitLocker will be removed from the hard drive. As a result, it will be disabled on your Windows 10.

Additional Method for Mac to Unlock BitLocker USB

There are instances when users insert a USB with BitLocker-encryption on a Mac computer and it shows a pop-up that the USB cannot be read.

In case you are wondering how to unlock the BitLocker USB on a Mac computer then you can use BitLocker Genius. It helps you to open and access the encrypted USB. Let’s know how to use BitLocker Genius in the following steps.

• Download and run the “BitLocker Genius” software on your Mac computer.
• Make sure that you connect the encrypted USB with Mac computer.
• Now choose the “BitLocker USB”.
• Then, click on the “Unlock” option (in the navigation bar).
• Enter the correct password of USB.
• Click on the “Mount” button.

Once you do so, the USB will be decrypted and displayed on your desktop. This way you can easily unlock the encrypted USB on your Mac PC.

Closing

There are numerous ways to disable BitLocker on your Windows 10 computer. As we discussed in this blog, you can either navigate through the Settings or run the command, If required, you can format the hard drive to remove the BitLocker protection.

However, BitLocker plays a vital role in protecting your data but if you do not wish to keep it any longer then the above guide is here to help you. Pick any of the methods and disable BitLocker on Windows 10.

Apart from resettings BitLocker password, if you want to reset Windows 10 password using Command Prompt, you can read this curated guide.