---
title: "Turn on Windows Bitlocker"
canonical: "https://kb.uconn.edu/space/IKB/28193128504/Turn%20on%20Windows%20Bitlocker"
format: markdown
---
Students, faculty, and staff should use Bitlocker on their personal devices and it is required for university devices. Bitlocker encrypts your storage drive with a password to increase data security. If someone plugs your storage drive (internal drive, USB drive or “flash drive”, etc.), they will need to enter a password before they can access any data.

> ⚠️ If you lose the password to decrypt the storage drive, the data will be lost and the drive must be wiped (erased) in order to be used again.

> ✅ You may encrypt an empty drive or a drive that has data on it. An empty drive will encrypt much faster than a filled drive.

## Turn on Bitlocker

1. Plug in your external storage drive. If you’re looking to encrypt an internal storage drive, continue from Step 3.
2. Open File Explorer and click on **This PC** in the lefthand menu.
3. Right click on the drive and click on **Show more options** and then click on **Turn on Bitlocker**.
4. You will likely want to secure your drive with a password.  
<u>Backup this password</u><u>**. **</u><u>Refer to the warning at the top of this page.</u>  
Add this password to a password manager.
5. You will be required to save the password as a file or to print out a copy of the password.

> ⚠️ The duration of the decryption process depends on how much data you have on the drive. It may take anywhere from a minute to a full day to decrypt the drive. <u>DO NOT</u> unplug the drive without first pausing the encryption/decryption process window. Failure to properly pause the process before unplugging the drive may render the drive unreadable; in this case, you will need to completely wipe (erase) the drive before using the drive again.

## Manage Bitlocker

[https://uconn.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/IKB/pages/28189950101](https://uconn.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/IKB/pages/28189950101) 

## Related Guides

> Macro (contentbylabel)