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BitLocker not only encrypts the Windows drive but also external drives. Encrypting a removable drive, like a USB stick, is quicker and easier than encrypting the main Windows drive.

This post will show you how to Turn On or Off BitLocker to encrypt or decrypt fixed and removable data drives in Windows 11/10.

To disable BitLocker for a drive, click Turn Off BitLocker next to that encrypted drive in the BitLocker Drive Encryption applet. Turning off BitLocker decrypts that drive and its data.

Microsoft says that while BitLocker relies on a drive’s hardware encryption by default, it is possible to force a drive to use BitLocker’s software encryption instead.

Without a boot key — either a manually entered PIN, a USB flash drive or a secure module on the PC itself — everything on a BitLocker-encrypted drive is indistinguishable from random data.

If encrypting the system drive with BitLocker, your computer motherboard must have a Trusted Platform Module (TPM), or you must use a USB flash drive as a key for unlocking the drive during boot up.