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# How to configure BitLocker on your Windows client

Discover **how to configure BitLocker on your Windows client** license **protect the data** on your devices even in the event of **loss or theft**.

Yes, this is another of those moments when I'm going to tell you that security is important, but no, I'm not going to bore you with abstract or theoretical topics; I'm going to get straight to telling you how you can protect your data on laptops, USB drives, external hard drives, etc.

And above all, what I'm going to propose won't cost you a single euro; it's something that your Windows (if you bought it this century) most likely already has.

And yes, I'm referring to BitLocker, a data protection solution for Microsoft devices, for both business and personal use, that is available in many of the Redmond giant's operating systems.

 

### **How to configure BitLocker on your Windows client?**

 

#### **Prerequisites and recommendations:**

To successfully complete this tutorial and be able to **configure BitLocker on your Windows client** the following will be necessary:

* Have a **Windows Client or Windows Server** **with a** **version that supports BitLocker**:
  * Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise versions of Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows 10, and Windows 11.
  * Windows Server 2008 versions and later.
* An account with **administrator privileges**.

 

#### Step 1. BitLocker setup on a Windows 10 drive:

In this case we are going to see how to carry out the procedure to enable BitLocker on a USB drive in a Windows 10 operating system.

To begin, we must go to a **Windows Explorer** and once this is done, **right-click on the drive on which we want to activate BitLocker** (1). And then we must **select "Turn on BitLocker"** (2) or "Activate BitLocker" depending on the system language.

![Paso 1. Seleccionamos la unidad y activamos
Bitlocker](https://jotelulu.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Paso-1.-Seleccionamos-la-unidad-y-activamos-Bitlocker.jpg)\\

Step 1. We select the drive and activate BitLocker

 

Once this is done, a **pop-up window** will open in which you must **choose how you want to unlock the drive** (3) once encrypted.

For this, **two options are shown**:

* **Use a password to unlock the drive**: If we select this option, we must enter the password twice.
* **Use a smart card to unlock the drive**: In this case, you will need a smart card, a compatible reader, and the PIN.

![Paso 1. Seleccionamos como desbloquear la
unidad](https://jotelulu.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Paso-1.-Seleccionamos-como-desbloquear-la-unidad.jpg)\\

Step 1. We select how to unlock the drive

In our case we select the password option, so we must **enter the password to use twice** (4).

![Paso 1. Introducimos la clave para desbloquear la
unidad](https://jotelulu.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Paso-1.-Introducimos-la-clave-para-desbloquear-la-unidad.jpg)\\

Step 1. We enter the key to unlock the drive

The next step to take is to **choose how you want to save the recovery key** (5) of the BitLocker drive.

This basically consists of extracting a copy of the string that we will need to use to recover access to the drive in case we have forgotten our access key.

We have **four options**:

* **Save to our Microsoft account.**
* **Save it on a USB drive**: which will act as a token.
* **Save in a file**: it cannot be saved on another encrypted drive.
* **Print the recovery key**: It can be printed to a PDF.

![Paso 1. Seleccionamos la forma en que se guarda la copia de seguridad
de la clave de recuperación de
Bitlocker](https://jotelulu.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Paso-1.-Seleccionamos-la-forma-en-que-se-guarda-la-copia-de-seguridad-de-la-clave-de-recuperacion-de-Bitlocker.jpg)\\

Step 1. We select how the backup copy of the BitLocker recovery key is saved

Next we can see a **sample recovery key** printed, where both the identifier and the recovery key can be seen, which can be used in case we do not remember the password.

![Paso 1. Ejemplo de clave de recuperación de cifrado de unidad
BitLocker
impresa](https://jotelulu.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Imagen.-Ejemplo-de-clave-de-recuperacion-de-cifrado-de-unidad-BitLocker-impresa.png)\\

Step 1. Example of a printed BitLocker drive encryption recovery key

What will be done next is **choose how much of the drive you want to encrypt** (6).

In this case we have these **two options are shown**:

* **Encrypt used disk space only**: Better and faster for new drives and PCs.
* **Encrypt entire drive**: Slower, but better for drives and PCs that are in use.

![Paso 1. Seleccionamos la forma en que queremos que se cifre la
unidad](https://jotelulu.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Paso-1.-Seleccionamos-la-forma-en-que-queremos-que-se-cifre-la-unidad.jpg)\\

Step 1. We select how we want the drive to be encrypted

Finally, you just have to **choose the encryption mode that will be used** (7):

* **New encryption mode**: Recommended for fixed drives on this device.
* **Compatible mode**: Recommended for drives that can be moved from this device.

Basically, we will select the second option when we need to move between devices, especially when it is possible that we will connect the encrypted drive to older operating systems.

![Paso 1. Seleccionamos el modo de cifrado que queremos usar para su
compatibilidad](https://jotelulu.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Paso-1.-Seleccionamos-el-modo-de-cifrado-que-queremos-usar-para-su-compatibilidad.jpg)\\

Step 1. We select the encryption mode we want to use for compatibility

Finally, all that remains is **click Start encryption** and go get a coffee while the encryption process completes, because it will be a long process, especially for large drives.

For this, you must **select "Run BitLocker system check"** (8) and **click "Continue"** (9).

![Paso 1. Seleccionamos comenzar el cifrado de la unidad con
Bitlocker](https://jotelulu.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Paso-1.-Seleccionamos-comenzar-el-cifrado-de-la-unidad-con-Bitlocker.jpg)\\

Step 1. We select to start drive encryption with BitLocker

As soon as encryption has started, **the "lock" symbol can be seen** on the drive and a pop-up window with a **progress bar and the progress percentage**.

If no pop-up windows appear, **it can be seen in the taskbar** (10).

![Paso 1. Comprobamos que en este momento se empieza con el cifrado de
la
unidad](https://jotelulu.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Paso-1.-Comprobamos-que-en-este-momento-se-empieza-con-el-cifrado-de-la-unidad.jpg)\\

Step 1. We check that drive encryption starts at this point

At this point, all that remains is **to wait for the drive encryption to finish**.

 

### **Conclusions:**

As we have seen throughout the article **how to configure BitLocker on your Windows client**, BitLocker is a **simple system** to implement on modern equipment.

It allows us to **keep the information safe** contained within our devices, this being especially important in the case of devices such as **tablets**, **laptops** and devices such as **external hard drives** or **USB drives**.

In this tutorial you have been able to read how to implement it easily on a device with Windows 10 installed.

We hope you found it useful.

Thank you for joining us!


---

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