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What to Do if BitLocker Fails to Encrypt the Drive

Enable BitLocker without a compatible Trusted Platform Module

6 min. read

Updated onMay 22, 2024

updated onMay 22, 2024

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Key notes

BitLocker is a Windows 10 built-in tool that you can activate on your OS to protect yourhard drives or removable drivesfrom offline attacks.

While this is a welcome software offered by Microsoft for privacy purposes, the tool has glitches.

For instance, users complained about unusable protected drives when migrating from an older OS version to a newer one.

Other common BitLocker-reportederror messagesare:

You’ll find a solution for each of these errors in this article. Hopefully, by the end of this material, you’ll be able to use BitLocker to the best of your needs.

How can I fix BitLocker drive encryption issues?

1. Clean the disk and re-create the partition

1.1 Clear the partition with third-party software

Before continuing, remember that this method will erase all the information stored on yourdisk.

Creating a backup on a different drive is advisable to ensure you won’t lose all your files and folders.

For less hassle, you could assign this task to a third-party dedicated tool that will do the right thing. On this note, we recommend the excellent tool below.

It is a multifunctional assistant that will manage, partition, and optimize your hard drive according to your needs.

If youhave a backup, run this software to split, move, resize,and manage your partitionswithout data loss to make the most of your disk space.

In this case, you’ll want to use the Format Partition feature to fresh-clean the disk so that you can move the saved data back into the blank space.

⇒Get AOMEI Partition Assistant

1.2 Clear the partition manually

The manual process can be tricky so proceed with extreme care and follow it to the letter. If you’re not experienced, you should go with the software recommended above.

2. Change the Security Chip settings

According to reports, it seems this issue affects machines equipped with Intel PTTSecurityChips using particular settings.

Namely, when the issue occurred, the BitLocker Drive Encryption used TPM and PIN, and theAllow BitLocker without a compatible TPMoption was turned off.

Also, the machines were running theOSin BIOS, notUEFI. We listed the general steps to follow above. Keep in mind that they may vary on your machine.

If you want to reverse the action, you need to replace the firmware’s boot capability withUEFIboot. Sometimes, you may also need to reinstall theOS.

In case you cannot arrive at a fix, we strongly recommend you switch to using the software below, which is a powerful encryption tool.

Its wide range of security features includescopying encrypted lockers to the USB drive, CDs, DVDs, and even email attachments and the possibility to upload your encrypted files to a cloud server.

⇒Get Folder Lock

3. Enable BitLocker without a compatible TPM

Enabling BitLocker from the Group Policy Editor without TPE can solve this problem quickly so make sure you try it by using the steps above.

4. Clear the TPM (Trusted Platform Module)

Note:Before starting to clear TPM settings, please make sure that you backed up your computer, as mentioned in the first solution. This method may result in data loss.

5. Change the settings of USB devices in BIOS

This solution applies when BitLocker fails to encrypt theoperating systemdrive using a USB startup key. The cause of it can be related to some settings in BIOS mode.

And if all this seems too complicated, Device Encryption is available, but do check out ourDevice Encrytion vs BitLocker reviewto see which one is more suitable for you.

BitLocker usually does a great job encrypting your data, but after that, don’t forget to safeguard them with one of thebest automatic backup software for Windows 10. You may also want todisable the Recall featureif BitLocker encryption is unreliable since it keeps a snapshot of your activity.

We hope that these solutions helped you to fix your BitLocker encryption problems. If you have additional tips and suggestions, please list them in the comments section below.

More about the topics:Bitlocker,encryption

Madalina Dinita

Networking & Security Specialist

Madalina has been a Windows fan ever since she got her hands on her first Windows XP computer.

She is interested in all things technology, especially emerging technologies – AI and DNA computing in particular.

Prior to joining the WindowsReport team, she worked in the corporate world for a number of years.

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Madalina Dinita

Networking & Security Specialist

Madalina is a Windows fan since forever, especially interested in AI, emerging technologies, privacy, and security.