Privacy and Security Turn On or Off Auto-unlock for BitLocker Drive in Windows 11


BitLocker_unlocked_drive_banner.png

This tutorial will show you how to turn on or off auto-unlock for a fixed or removable data drive encrypted by BitLocker for your account in Windows 10 and Windows 11.

BitLocker Drive Encryption is a data protection feature that integrates with the operating system and addresses the threats of data theft or exposure from lost, stolen, or inappropriately decommissioned drives and computers.

You can turn on BitLocker or Device Encryption to encrypt the operating system drive (Windows drive), fixed data drives (internal hard drives), and removable data drives (external hard drive or USB flash drive).

If BitLocker or Device Encryption has been turned on for the operating system drive, you can set BitLocker to automatically unlock fixed data drives and removable data drives encrypted by BitLocker when you sign in to Windows. BitLocker uses encrypted information stored in the registry and volume metadata to unlock any drives that use automatic unlocking.


You must be signed in as an administrator to turn on or off auto-unlock for a operating system drive and fixed data drive. You are not required to be an administrator to turn on or off auto-unlock for your removable data drive.

You must unlock the fixed data drive or removable data drive before you can turn on auto-unlock.

If you turn on auto-unlock for an unlocked fixed data drive or removable data drive encrypted by BitLocker, then the drive cannot be locked until you turn off auto-unlock for the drive.

Auto-unlock only gets applied to the specific current user on the current specific computer.

BitLocker Drive Encryption is only available in the Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions.



Contents

  • Option One: Turn On or Off BitLocker Auto-unlock for Fixed or Removable Data Drive in BitLocker Manager
  • Option Two: Turn On or Off BitLocker Auto-unlock for Fixed or Removable Data Drive using manage-bde command
  • Option Three: Turn On or Off BitLocker Auto-unlock for Fixed or Removable Data Drive in PowerShell




Option One

Turn On or Off BitLocker Auto-unlock for Fixed or Removable Data Drive in BitLocker Manager


1 Open the Control Panel (icons view), and click/tap on the BitLocker Drive Encryption icon.

2 Do step 3 (on) or step 4 (off) below for what you would like to do.


 3. To Turn On Auto-unlock for Fixed or Removable Data Drive Encrypted by BitLocker

A) Expand open the fixed data drive or removable data drive you want to turn on auto-unlock for. (see screenshot below)​

B) Click/tap on Turn on auto-unlock, and go to step 5 below.​

Turn_on_auto-unlock_Control_Panel.png


 4. To Turn Off Auto-unlock for Fixed or Removable Data Drive Encrypted by BitLocker

This is the default setting.


A) Expand open the fixed data drive or removable data drive you want to turn on auto-unlock for. (see screenshot below)​

B) Click/tap on Turn off auto-unlock, and go to step 5 below.​

Turn_off_auto-unlock_Control_Panel.png

5 You can now close the BitLocker Drive Encryption control panel if you like.




Option Two

Turn On or Off BitLocker Auto-unlock for Fixed or Removable Data Drive using manage-bde command


You must be signed in as an administrator to use this option.


1 Open Windows Terminal (Admin), and select either Windows PowerShell or Command Prompt.

2 Do step 3 (on) or step 4 (off) below for what you want.


 3. To Turn On Auto-unlock for Fixed or Removable Data Drive Encrypted by BitLocker

A) Type the command below into Windows Terminal (Admin), press Enter, and go to step 5 below. (see screenshot below)​

manage-bde -autounlock -enable <drive letter>:​

Substitute <drive letter> in the command above with the actual drive letter of the encrypted drive you want to turn on auto-unlock.

For example: manage-bde -autounlock -enable E:


Turn_on_auto-unlock_mange-bde.png


 4. To Turn Off Auto-unlock for Fixed or Removable Data Drive Encrypted by BitLocker

This is the default setting.


A) Type the command below into Windows Terminal (Admin), press Enter, and go to step 5 below. (see screenshot below)​

manage-bde -autounlock -disable <drive letter>:​

Substitute <drive letter> in the command above with the actual drive letter of the encrypted drive you want to turn off auto-unlock.

For example: manage-bde -autounlock -disable E:


Turn_off_auto-unlock_mange-bde.png

5 You can close Windows Terminal (Admin) if you like.




Option Three

Turn On or Off BitLocker Auto-unlock for Fixed or Removable Data Drive in PowerShell


1 Open Windows Terminal (Admin), and select Windows PowerShell.

2 Do step 3 (on), step 4 (off - specific drive), or step 5 (off - all drives) below for what you want.


 3. To Turn On Auto-unlock for Fixed or Removable Data Drive Encrypted by BitLocker

A) Type the command below into Windows Terminal (Admin), press Enter, and go to step 6 below. (see screenshot below)​

Enable-BitLockerAutoUnlock -MountPoint "<drive letter>:"​

Substitute <drive letter> in the command above with the actual drive letter of the encrypted drive you want to turn on auto-unlock.

For example: Enable-BitLockerAutoUnlock -MountPoint "E:"


Enable_BitlockerAutoUnlock.png


 4. To Turn Off Auto-unlock for Specific Fixed or Removable Data Drive Encrypted by BitLocker

This is the default setting.


A) Type the command below into Windows Terminal (Admin), press Enter, and go to step 6 below. (see screenshot below)​

Disable-BitLockerAutoUnlock -MountPoint "<drive letter>:"​

Substitute <drive letter> in the command above with the actual drive letter of the encrypted drive you want to turn off auto-unlock.

For example: Disable-BitLockerAutoUnlock -MountPoint "E:"


Disable_BitlockerAutoUnlock.png


 5. To Turn Off Auto-unlock for All Fixed Data Drives Encrypted by BitLocker

A) Copy and paste the command below into Windows Terminal (Admin), press Enter, and go to step 6 below. (see screenshot below)​

Clear-BitLockerAutoUnlock​

Clear_BitlockerAutoUnlock.png

6 You can close Windows Terminal (Admin) if you like.


That's it,
Shawn Brink


Related Tutorials

 
Last edited:
Click to expand...
Thank you.... and are you sure that panel option with "Automatically unlock this drive..." is available also for Windows 11 HOME when you choose to BitLock a drive?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS ROG SCAR 18
    CPU
    Intel i9-13980HX
    Memory
    32GB DDR5 5600MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVidia GTX 4090 Laptop 256bit 16GB 175W
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC285 + Dolby Atmos
    Monitor(s) Displays
    G-Sync NE180QDM-NZ2 18" 16:10, FreeSync Premium XiaoMi Mi 34" 21:9
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1600@240Hz (internal), 3440x1440@144Hz (external)
    Hard Drives
    NVMe Lexar NM790 1TB 6GB/s, NVMe Lexar NM790 4TB 6GB/s
    PSU
    330W (laptop PSU)
    Mouse
    ROG Strix Carry Wireless-BT mouse
    Other Info
    4K UHD USB Archgon Star Blu-Ray 4K UHD,
    8BitDo Arcade Stick,
    Vader 4 Pro controller
hexaae said:
Thank you.... and are you sure that panel option with "Automatically unlock this drive..." is available also for Windows 11 HOME when you choose to BitLock a drive?
Click to expand...
It should be if the "C" drive has Device Encryption or BitLocker turned on first. If not for some reason, you can manually turn it on using the steps in this tutorial instead.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gbps Download and 35 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender and Malwarebytes Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Laptop 7 Copilot+ PC
    CPU
    Snapdragon X Elite (12 core) 3.42 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15" HDR
    Screen Resolution
    2496 x 1664
    Hard Drives
    1 TB SSD
    Internet Speed
    Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS ROG SCAR 18
    CPU
    Intel i9-13980HX
    Memory
    32GB DDR5 5600MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVidia GTX 4090 Laptop 256bit 16GB 175W
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC285 + Dolby Atmos
    Monitor(s) Displays
    G-Sync NE180QDM-NZ2 18" 16:10, FreeSync Premium XiaoMi Mi 34" 21:9
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1600@240Hz (internal), 3440x1440@144Hz (external)
    Hard Drives
    NVMe Lexar NM790 1TB 6GB/s, NVMe Lexar NM790 4TB 6GB/s
    PSU
    330W (laptop PSU)
    Mouse
    ROG Strix Carry Wireless-BT mouse
    Other Info
    4K UHD USB Archgon Star Blu-Ray 4K UHD,
    8BitDo Arcade Stick,
    Vader 4 Pro controller

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gbps Download and 35 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender and Malwarebytes Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Laptop 7 Copilot+ PC
    CPU
    Snapdragon X Elite (12 core) 3.42 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15" HDR
    Screen Resolution
    2496 x 1664
    Hard Drives
    1 TB SSD
    Internet Speed
    Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Brink said:
Did you have Device Encryption turned on for the "C" drive first?
Click to expand...
Yes, as I mentioned in my first msg there were two drives C: and D: both BitLocked encrypted (and auto-unlocking after Windows boot). I swapped C: drive with a new cloned one (without BitLocker after cloning), keeping only old D:... and the problem was that given errors after CMD/PS commands gave no clue saying just "the drive [unspecified] has no BitLocker encryption", not sure if it's an Italian Windows 11 24H2 problem only (maybe in English "Enable-BitLockerAutoUnlock" gives a more appropriate error result mentioning "the OS DRIVE has no BitLocker" and not a confusing "the drive" you may think is the one you're trying to auto-unlock?)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS ROG SCAR 18
    CPU
    Intel i9-13980HX
    Memory
    32GB DDR5 5600MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVidia GTX 4090 Laptop 256bit 16GB 175W
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC285 + Dolby Atmos
    Monitor(s) Displays
    G-Sync NE180QDM-NZ2 18" 16:10, FreeSync Premium XiaoMi Mi 34" 21:9
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1600@240Hz (internal), 3440x1440@144Hz (external)
    Hard Drives
    NVMe Lexar NM790 1TB 6GB/s, NVMe Lexar NM790 4TB 6GB/s
    PSU
    330W (laptop PSU)
    Mouse
    ROG Strix Carry Wireless-BT mouse
    Other Info
    4K UHD USB Archgon Star Blu-Ray 4K UHD,
    8BitDo Arcade Stick,
    Vader 4 Pro controller
hexaae said:
Yes, as I mentioned in my first msg there were two drives C: and D: both BitLocked encrypted (and auto-unlocking after Windows boot). I swapped C: drive with a new cloned one (without BitLocker after cloning), keeping only old D:... and the problem was that given errors after CMD/PS commands gave no clue saying just "the drive [unspecified] has no BitLocker encryption", not sure if it's an Italian Windows 11 24H2 problem only (maybe in English "Enable-BitLockerAutoUnlock" gives a more appropriate error result mentioning "the OS DRIVE has no BitLocker" and not a confusing "the drive" you may think is the one you're trying to auto-unlock?)
Click to expand...

I asked since you posted this below prior. It seemed like you may not of had Device Encryption turned on. Just double checking. :-)

hexaae said:
Changed drive C: with a new NVMe (cloned drive with Macrium Reflect 8.1.x Registered, result is C: without BitLocker), but D: now is always locked after boot.
Click to expand...
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gbps Download and 35 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender and Malwarebytes Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Laptop 7 Copilot+ PC
    CPU
    Snapdragon X Elite (12 core) 3.42 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15" HDR
    Screen Resolution
    2496 x 1664
    Hard Drives
    1 TB SSD
    Internet Speed
    Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Thank you Brink for all your efforts and your really helpful forums! They are a great 🛟 help to the Windows community.
🙏🏻
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS ROG SCAR 18
    CPU
    Intel i9-13980HX
    Memory
    32GB DDR5 5600MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVidia GTX 4090 Laptop 256bit 16GB 175W
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC285 + Dolby Atmos
    Monitor(s) Displays
    G-Sync NE180QDM-NZ2 18" 16:10, FreeSync Premium XiaoMi Mi 34" 21:9
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1600@240Hz (internal), 3440x1440@144Hz (external)
    Hard Drives
    NVMe Lexar NM790 1TB 6GB/s, NVMe Lexar NM790 4TB 6GB/s
    PSU
    330W (laptop PSU)
    Mouse
    ROG Strix Carry Wireless-BT mouse
    Other Info
    4K UHD USB Archgon Star Blu-Ray 4K UHD,
    8BitDo Arcade Stick,
    Vader 4 Pro controller
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