How to turn on or off Bitlocker Drive Encryption in Windows 7?

Bitlocker Drive Encryption is used to encrypt the drives connected to the systems such as removable or hard disk drives. This in turn helps in enhancing the security of the system.

You can turn on Bitlocker Drive Encryption in the following way:

1) Double click on the Computer icon on the Desktop to open Windows explorer.



Figure 1


2) Here right click on the disk you want to encrypt and choose the option Turn on Bitlocker as highlighted above.

3) You will then be asked to type and re-type your desired password.



Figure 2


4) Now save the recovery key to a safe location by clicking the Save the recovery key to a file. You can also take its print out which would be much more beneficial in case you forget the password.



Figure 3


5) Choose a suitable location and click Save button. Click Next button.



Figure 4


6) Now click on the button Start Encrypting



Figure 5


7) You will now notice a progress bar while the disk is being encrypted.



Figure 6


8) Finally you will be notified when the drive encryption is over.

9) You can then manage the Bitlocker settings by right clicking the encrypted drive and choosing Manage Bitlocker



Figure 7


10) Here you can choose from a variety of settings as shown below



Figure 8


The drive is finally encrypted now.

You can turn off Bitlocker Drive Encryption in the following way:

1) Open Control Panel and double click on Bitlocker Drive Encryption icon.



Figure 9


2) Here click the link Turn off Bitlocker as shown below



Figure 10


3) You will then be prompted that the drive will be decrypted. Click Decrypt Drive button here.



Figure 11


4) You will now notice a progress bar while the disk is being decrypted



Figure 12


5) Finally you will be notified when the drive decryption is over.


6) Now if you will right click on the decrypted drive you will notice Turn on Bitlocker option in the menu as shown in Figure 1