How to Turn On or Off Auto-unlock for BitLocker Drive in Windows 10
BitLocker can encrypt the drive Windows is installed on (the operating system drive) as well as fixed data drives (such as internal hard drives). You can also use BitLocker To Go to help protect all files stored on a 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.
You can configure BitLocker to automatically unlock volumes that do not host an operating system. After a user unlocks the operating system volume, BitLocker uses encrypted information stored in the registry and volume metadata to unlock any data volumes that use automatic unlocking.
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.
You must be signed in as an administrator to be able to turn on or off auto-unlock on a fixed data drive.
Auto-unlock only gets applied to the specific current user on the specific computer. Each user will have to turn on auto-unlock on each specific computer.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
1 Open an elevated command prompt.
2 Do step 3 (on) or step 4 (off) below for what you would like to do.
A) Type the command below in the elevated command prompt, 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 D:
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)
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 D:
5 When finished, you can close the elevated command prompt if you like.
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.
A) Type the command below in the elevated PowerShell, 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 "F:"
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)
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 "F:"
A) Type the command below in the elevated PowerShell, press Enter, and go to step 6 below.
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
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