Windows 10: Turn On or Off Auto-unlock for BitLocker Drive in Windows 10

How to: Turn On or Off Auto-unlock for BitLocker Drive in Windows 10

How to Turn On or Off Auto-unlock for BitLocker Drive in Windows 10


Information BitLocker can encrypt the drive Windows is installed on (the removable data drive (such as an external hard drive or USB flash drive).

You can choose how you want to unlock an encrypted data drive: with a password or a smart card. For removable data drives encrypted with BitLocker To Go, you can set the drive to automatically unlock when you sign in to the PC. For fixed data drives, you can also set the drive to automatically unlock when you unlock the PC, if you prefer, as long as the operating system drive is BitLocker-protected.

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



Note You must be signed in as an administrator to be able to turn on or off auto-unlock on a fixed data drive.

BitLocker Drive Encryption is only available in Windows 10 Pro, Windows 10 Enterprise, and Windows 10 Education editions.


CONTENTS:

• Option One: To Turn On or Off BitLocker Auto-unlock for Drive in BitLocker Manager
• Option Two: To Turn On BitLocker Auto-unlock for Drive while Unlocking Drive
• Option Three: To Turn On or Off BitLocker Auto-unlock for Drive in Command Prompt
• Option Four: To Turn On or Off BitLocker Auto-unlock for Drive in PowerShell

OPTION ONE [/i] To Turn On or Off BitLocker Auto-unlock for 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 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.





4. To Turn Off Auto-unlock for Drive Encrypted by BitLocker
NOTE: 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.




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





OPTION TWO [/i] To Turn On BitLocker Auto-unlock for Drive while Unlocking Drive
1. Open This PC in File Explorer (Win+E).

2. Click/tap on to open a locked fixed or removable data drive (ex: "F") you want to turn on auto-unlock for. (see screenshot below)



3. Enter the password to unlock this drive, and click/tap on the More options link. (see screenshot below)



4. Check the Automatically unlock on this PC box, and click tap on Unlock. (see screenshot below)



5. You can now close File Explorer if you like.





OPTION THREE [/i] To Turn On or Off BitLocker Auto-unlock for Drive in Command Prompt
1. Open an elevated command prompt.

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) Type the command below in the elevated command prompt, press Enter, and go to step 5 below. (see screenshot below)

*Arrow manage-bde -autounlock -enable <drive letter>:



Note 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 D:




4. To Turn Off Auto-unlock for Fixed or Removable Data Drive Encrypted by BitLocker
NOTE: This is the default setting.
A) Type the command below in the elevated command prompt, press Enter, and go to step 5 below. (see screenshot below)

*Arrow manage-bde -autounlock -disable <drive letter>:



Note 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 D:



5. When finished, you can close the elevated command prompt if you like.





OPTION FOUR [/i] To Turn On or Off BitLocker Auto-unlock for Drive in PowerShell


Note To see more usage options for the Enable-BitLockerAutoUnlock command, see: Enable-BitLockerAutoUnlock | Microsoft Docs

To see more usage options for the Disable-BitLockerAutoUnlock command, see: Disable-BitLockerAutoUnlock | Microsoft Docs

To see more details about the Clear-BitLockerAutoUnlock command, see: Clear-BitLockerAutoUnlock | Microsoft Docs

1. Open an elevated PowerShell.

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


3. To Turn On Auto-unlock for Specific Fixed or Removable Data Drive Encrypted by BitLocker
A) Type the command below in the elevated PowerShell, press Enter, and go to step 6 below. (see screenshot below)

*Arrow Enable-BitLockerAutoUnlock -MountPoint "<drive letter>:"



Note 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 "F:"




4. To Turn Off Auto-unlock for Specific Fixed or Removable Data Drive Encrypted by BitLocker
NOTE: This is the default setting.
A) Type the command below in the elevated PowerShell, press Enter, and go to step 6 below. (see screenshot below)

*Arrow Disable-BitLockerAutoUnlock -MountPoint "<drive letter>:"



Note 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 "F:"




5. To Turn Off Auto-unlock for All Fixed Data Drives Encrypted by BitLocker
A) Type the command below in the elevated PowerShell, press Enter, and go to step 6 below.

*Arrow Clear-BitLockerAutoUnlock
6. When finished, you can close the elevated PowerShell if you like.

That's it,
Shawn


Related Tutorials

• How to Turn On or Off BitLocker for Fixed Data Drives in Windows 10
• How to Turn On or Off BitLocker for Removable Data Drives in Windows 10
• How to Check Status of BitLocker Drive Encryption for Drive in Windows 10
• How to Unlock a Fixed or Removable BitLocker Drive in Windows
• How to Unlock an OS Drive Encrypted by BitLocker in Windows 10
• How to Add 'Lock Drive' to Context Menu of BitLocker Encrypted Drives in Windows 10
• How to Add or Remove Unlock Drive Context Menu in Windows
• How to Lock BitLocker Encrypted Drive in Windows
• How to Suspend or Resume BitLocker Protection for Drive in Windows 10
• How to Create BitLocker Encrypted Container File with a VHD or VHDX File in Windows

:)

 

Turning on Bitlocker's auto-unlock on partitioned drive

I have Windows 10 Pro running on a 500GB hard drive which is partitioned into C: for Windows programs and D: where I keep my documents. I want to secure my documents and personal files from unauthorized access.

Anyone with a Linux bootable USB stick can boot a computer from the USB stick and then access all files on the hard drive. To prevent this I have used Bitlocker to encrypt my D: drive. The drive now cannot be accessed if laptop is booted externally.

I now want to turn on "auto-unlock", so that when I boot into Windows through the laptops' Window OS the D: drive is automatically unlocked. When I select "turn on auto-unlock" on the Bitlocker Drive Encryption screen I get the error message "The operating
system drive is not protected by Bitlocker Drive Encryption."

Why will it not allow me auto unlock the drive?

 

Windows 10 Pro Bitlocker will not auto unlock on boot

I have recently upgraded two identical PCs from Windows 8.1 Pro to Windows 10 Pro (

Version 1511 Build 10586.36). One of the PCs is having trouble with the Bitlocker Auto Unlock feature.

PCs are both Intel NUC5i7RYH. Each has a Samsung internal SSD and two Western Digital External hard drives. I have enabled bitlocker on all three drives. The external drives on one of the PCs will not auto unlock on boot.

The details on the problem PC:

I have enabled bitlocker on two external hard drives with auto unlock enabled. However, after every boot from a power off state the external drive is still locked. If I log out and then in again the drive is auto unlocked as expected. But, if I power down
the PC and restart then the drive is not auto unlocked and requires a password be entered.

I know of three ways to enable auto unlock and have tried them all.

1. I have entered the drive password by double-clicking the locked drive. The drive asks for the password and then in the advanced area I have checked the box to auto unlock.

2. I have right clicked the drive in Windows Explorer and chosen Manage Bitlocker. I have Turned off Auto Unlock and then Turned it back on. This doesn't fix the issue.

3. I have run the command line tools from Power Shell as an administrator: Enable-BitLockerAutoUnlock -MountPoint "E:". The command reports that the drive is auto unlocked. However, it is not.

Anyone run across this one before? Any ideas as to what else to try? I reported this issue through the Microsoft Answer Tech and was told that they couldn't fix it. If it can't be fixed is there a way to add it to a list for future consideration of bug
fixes through the Windows Update process?

 

HELP: Automatic BitLocker Unlock.

Thank you sir, ill try your solution.

Windows Auto unlock ONLY works in case you have Bitlocker on your system drive, because if your system drive is not encrypted auto unlocking other drives means loss of security.
But in my case my system drive is Encrypted with hardware encryption that i password unlock during boot. So auto unlocking Bitlocker drives will do fine for me.

 

BitLocker: turn on auto-unlock without encrypting OS Drive (SSD)

I have the following configuration:

C (OS Drive) - SSD (128Gb)

D (Data Drive) - Normal Disk (1Tb)

D is encrypted using BitLocker but C is not encrypted.

I want to turn on auto-unlock on D, but get the following message: "The operating system drive is not protected by BitLocker Drive Encryption." - is there a way around this? I would ideally not want to encrypt my SSD.

I've moved my page file to D, but since the drive must be manually unlocked I get page file errors.

Thanks!

 

Windows 10 automatically locks the unlocked BitLocker encrypted USB drive

Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately, it didn't fix my issue. First of all, there is no "turn off auto bit lock", but there is "turn off auto-unlock" or "turn on auto-unlock", and my settings show "auto-unlock" is turned off. Secondly, I don't want my
USB drive to "auto-unlock", but I do want it to stay "unlocked" after I manually unlock it. However, the problem I am having now is that when I unlock the USB drive and open a file, then after being idle for a while, Windows will automatically lock the drive,
so I cannot save the changes I have made to the file until I unlock the drive again.