How to resume BitLocker encryption paused in Windows 10/8/7 (2024)

FAQs

How to resume BitLocker encryption paused in Windows 10/8/7? ›

Open Control Panel. Select System and Security > BitLocker Drive Encryption

Open Start. Search for PowerShell, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option. Type the following command to resume BitLocker and press Enter: Resume-BitLocker -MountPoint "C:"

Click on “Control Panel” from the Start Menu. From the Control Panel menu, click on “System and Security”. From the System and Security menu, click on “BitLocker Drive Encryption”. Under “BitLocker drive Encryption – Hard Disk Drives”, select “Resume Protection”.

Microsoft BitLocker is a tool that uses full volume encryption to protect data on drives. To enable BitLocker in Windows 10, search for "Manage BitLocker" in the Start menu, choose a recovery key option, select an encryption method, and run a system check. Disabling BitLocker is done through the Control Panel.

Causes: BitLocker suspension can occur if the hard drive is removed from the computer or if changes are made to the operating system or hardware. Solutions: To resolve BitLocker suspension, reconnect the hard drive to the computer, and then unlock the drive using the BitLocker recovery key.

The suspension might be caused by the reboot count having a low value, such as 0 or 1. To resume, manually execute the Resume-BitLocker cmdlet.

To unlock their drives, users must open “This PC” (or “My Computer”, depending on the version of Windows), right-click on the encrypted drive icons with the locked yellow padlock icon, click "Unlock Drive" and provide the Password.

The BitLocker encryption does not start until the computer is restarted.

What happens if the computer is turned off during encryption or decryption? If the computer is turned off or goes into hibernation, the BitLocker encryption and decryption process will resume where it stopped the next time Windows starts.

How do I restore BitLocker? ›

To recover BitLocker, a user can use a recovery password, if available. The BitLocker recovery password is unique to the device it was created on, and can be saved in different ways. Depending on the configured policy settings, the recovery password can be: Saved in Microsoft Entra ID, for Microsoft Entra joined.

To exit the BitLocker recovery screen, you will need to enter the recovery key. The recovery key is a 48-digit code that was provided to you when you first enabled BitLocker on your device. If you don't have the recovery key, you can't enter the drive.

Specify zero to suspend protection indefinitely until you resume it by using the Resume-BitLocker cmdlet.

In the BitLocker Management screen, click Turn on BitLocker. BitLocker goes through a short initialization process. Choose one of three options for saving the recovery key.