BitLocker also has different system requirements based on the version of the operating system you’re running, and some features don’t work unless you have the right hardware set up in a particular way, so using BitLocker in an enterprise full of disparate hardware can get messy.īut overall, it’s a strong product for encrypting an entire drive, and Microsoft is continuing to keep it relevant by adding new features and better security.BitLocker is an advanced security feature embedded in Windows 10 and if you have enabled this feature on the disk partition that contains Windows 10, then at every time you will have to enter the BitLocker password amid accessing Windows os. It’s a shame it’s not available on all versions of Windows. It’s particularly useful for people with laptops containing sensitive or important documents. Final verdictīitLocker is a relatively simple way to encrypt an entire volume on Windows, keeping your files safe even if your computer falls into the wrong hands. It’s free to use, you can view all the source code, and it’s available for macOS and Linux, too, not just Windows. VeraCrypt (opens in new tab) is arguably the best open-source alternative to BitLocker. If this is a concern, open-source volume encryption software exists. Microsoft denies there’s an intentional built-in backdoor in BitLocker, though there is proof that the UK Home Office at least attempted to get Microsoft to introduce one in 2006.

The competitionĪ common concern about BitLocker is that it’s proprietary software, so it's not possible to test whether Microsoft has included a secret backdoor for law enforcement and governments. A note on the website suggests longer wait times at this time are caused by COVID-19. In our testing of the live chat support from Microsoft, we found the wait time to be an average of 15 minutes, but sometimes up to an hour. Business users have the option of calling the Microsoft technical support line in most countries. Microsoft support was able to quickly answer our simple query on BitLocker (Image credit: Microsoft) Supportįor home users, support for Microsoft products including BitLocker is available via live chat and community forums only.

Bitlocker password recovery tool