How to Disable BitLocker in Windows 10

BitLocker is an advanced security feature available in Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise. It allows users to encrypt entire hard drive partitions on desktop or laptop computers.

BitLocker is definitely a nice feature for users who need to protect their document data. However, there may be situations where some users need to disable BitLocker in Windows 10.

One of the reasons some users prefer to disable BitLocker is to ensure that they do not lock their drives against themselves.

Forgetting their BitLocker encryption password can cause some users to have trouble accessing their encrypted drives . Unless BitLocker encryption is absolutely necessary, it may be best for some users to disable this feature.

There are several ways to disable BitLocker in Windows 10 to decrypt encrypted drives. You can disable this feature in the Windows 10 Control Panel, Settings, Group Policy, and Command -Line Tools . Here are some ways to disable BitLocker in Windows 10.

You can also read: How to Unlock BitLocker Without a Password | Options

How to Disable BitLocker in Windows 10

Method 1: Disable BitLocker in Windows 10 from Control Panel.

• Click the magnifying glass icon or search bar on the left side of the Windows 10 taskbar.
• In the search bar, type Control Panel.
• Click “Control Panel” in the search results to open the window below.
• In the “Browse by” menu, Select “Category” if you haven't already.
• Click on “System and Security” in the Control Panel.
• Then click on “BitLocker Drive Encryption” to open the control panel, as shown in the following image.
• Click on the «Turn off BitLocker«.
• Finally click “Turn off BitLocker” to confirm.
• Make sure the described process is completed and then you need to enter the password one last time to disable BitLocker in Windows 10.

Method 2: Disable BitLocker in Windows 10 at the configuration level.

• Click on the «Home» to open the menu.
• Click the “Settings” button on the Start menu.
• Select "System" in the settings.
• Next, click on the “Information” tab in the screenshot below.
• Click on “BitLocker Options” to the right of the “About” tab.
• Select the “Turn off BitLocker” option.
• Then Click “Turn off BitLocker” in the BitLocker Driver Encryption dialog box.

Method 3: Disable BitLocker in Windows 10 using Command Prompt

The Command Prompt ( CMD ) is one of the two command-line programs in Windows 10. You can disable BitLocker using CMD by typing a specific command in the Command Prompt window. Here's how to disable BitLocker using the Command Prompt.

• Open Finder by pressing the key combination Windows + S.
• write cmd in the search box to find the command line.
• Right click on the command line and select “Run as administrator”.
• Next, enter the manage-bde -off X command in the command prompt window. Note that you must replace the X in this command with the letter of the encrypted drive. For example, the manage-bde -off C command refers to the C: drive.
• Hit enter after entering the command to start the decryption process.

Method 4: Disable BitLocker in Windows 10 using PowerShell

PowerShell is another Windows 10 command-line program that's a bit more advanced than Command Prompt . You can also disable BitLocker using PowerShell, but this tool has a different disabling command. Follow these steps to disable BitLocker in Windows 10 using PowerShell.

• Open the Windows 10 search tool.
• Enter the PowerShell keyword in the search tool text box.
• Click on the «Run as administrator» for Windows PowerShell on the right side of the search tool.
• Then type the command Disable-BitLocker -MountPoint «X:» in the PowerShell window. In this command, replace X with the letter of the drive you want to disable BitLocker on.
• Hit enter to run the command you entered to disable BitLocker. Please note that this process may take some time.

You can also enter two separate commands to disable BitLocker for all drives. To do this, enter these two commands separately in the order listed:

1. First command: $BLV = Get-BitLockerVolume
2. Second command: Disable-BitLocker -MountPoint $BLV

Method 5: Disable BitLocker in Windows 10 using Local Group Policy Editor

The Group Policy Editor is a useful feature in Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise that contains many configuration settings. If desired, you can disable BitLocker using this feature. You can disable BitLocker using the Group Policy Editor as follows.

• Right-click the Windows 10 Start button to open the Win + X menu.
• Select “Run” on the menu.
• Enter gpedit.msc in the "Open" text box and click "OK" to open the Group Policy Editor window shown below.
• Then Click on “Computer Settings” on the left side of the Group Policy Editor.
• Click “Administrative Templates” > “BitLocker Disk Encryption” > “Fixed Data Disks” to open the list of policies shown in the following image.
• double click on «Deny writing to hard drives not protected by BitLocker» to open this policy window.
• Click the radio button «Deactivate» in this window.
• Select the “Apply” button to save the new policy settings.
• Click the "OK" button to close the “Deny Write Access” policy window.

Method 6: Disable BitLocker via the Services window

• Press the Windows key + S combination to open the “Enter here to search” tool.
• Enter the keyword Services in the search box.
• Tap Services to open the Services window.
• Double-click BitLocker Drive Encryption Service to open the window shown in the following image.
• Click the Startup Type drop-down menu and select Off.
• Click the "Apply" button to apply the changed settings.
• Click “OK” to close the properties window.

Method 7: Disable BitLocker with a third-party tool

BitLocker can also be disabled using third-party software such as iSunshare BitLocker Genius for Windows. BitLocker Genius for Windows is an encryption management tool that includes several BL options.

With it, you can encrypt drives with BitLocker, lock them, change BitLocker passwords, and disable encryption. This makes using BitLocker a bit easier . BitLocker Genius is compatible with Windows 10/8.1/8/7 Pro and Enterprise. Below is an explanation of how to disable BitLocker in Windows 10 using BitLocker Genius.

• Open the BitLocker Genius window after installing the program.
• Right click on the encrypted drive and Select “Turn off BitLocker.”
• Click the “Decrypt” button.
• Wait for the decryption to complete and Click the “OK” button. You can also click the “Shut down computer when done” button to have your computer automatically shut down when the decryption process is complete.

How long does it take to decrypt BitLocker?

The time it takes to decrypt BitLocker can vary greatly depending on the amount of encrypted data and the speed of the computer. BitLocker decryption can take anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours or more.

Is there a way to check the progress of BitLocker decryption?

Yes, you can check the progress of the decryption by entering the BitLocker status command in the command line. To do so, follow these steps in Windows 10.

• First, opens the search window in Windows 10.
• Type cmd in the Windows 10 search bar to find Command Prompt.
• You need to open the Advanced Command Prompt by right-clicking and selecting Run as administrator.
• Now write managementbde status in the command window and press Enter. This will display the BitLocker status in the command line as shown in the screenshot below. When the percentage of encrypted data is zero, decryption is complete.

Can I temporarily disable BitLocker encryption instead of disabling it completely?

Yes, you can do this from the BitLocker Drive Encryption control panel. Open the BitLocker Drive Encryption applet as described in the first method. Instead of clicking "Turn off BitLocker," select the "Suspend protection" option.

Next, select "Yes" to the confirmation prompt that appears. BL encryption can be restored by selecting "Resume Protection" in the BitLocker Control Panel applet.

Do the methods described above to disable BitLocker also apply to Windows 8 and 8.1?

Yes, the methods described above can also be used to close BitLocker in Windows 8 and 8.1. However, please note that the instructions above for opening Control Panel, Settings, Services, Command Prompt, PowerShell, and Group Policy are more applicable to Windows 10.

Conclusion:

Disabling BitLocker using any of the methods above is quite simple. If you need to upgrade your Windows 10 version, update your BIOS or UEFI firmware, or change your hardware , it's worth disabling BitLocker using one of these methods.

This way, you won't have to enter your BitLocker recovery key after a platform update, firmware update, or hardware change.

In any case, disabling BitLocker ensures that you will never need the BL password or recovery key, preventing you from accessing encrypted drives if you forget them.

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