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Bitlocker-To-Go (USB Encryption)
1. Plug in the USB drive you want to encrypt.
2. Open Windows Explorer.
3. Click This PC in the left-hand pane. You should see your USB drive under Devices and drives.
4. Right-click the USB drive and select Turn on Bitlocker.
Bitlocker will start:
5. The next window, ‘Choose how you want to unlock this drive’, will appear automatically. Select ‘Use a password to unlock the drive’.
Note: Anyone who needs access to the USB drive will need to know the password you choose – so be careful not to use your own passwords!
6. Select ‘Next’. When choosing ‘How do you want to back up your recovery key?’, select ‘Save to a file’.
Note: The recovery key is a unique, long password that will unlock a Bitlocker-protected drive in case other unlocking methods (such as the password you created in the last step) are not available. It is important to keep this recovery key in case you are prompted for it, as you won’t be able to unlock the drive otherwise.
- Choose where you want to save the file.
- For example, your home directory or department drive. You cannot save it to the USB that you are encrypting.
- If you receive an error when saving the file, choose a different location.
- Once you see this success message on the main window, click ‘Next’
7. Select Start encrypting.
8. A progress window will appear that informs you of the encryption status. Do not remove the drive while it is encrypting, or it may damage the drive.
When finished, you will see this status message: Encryption of D: is complete.
Click Close.
You will know that your USB is encrypted from the drive icon. It will now have a lock and key.
BitLocker to Go - Changing the Password of Encrypted Drive
1. To change the password of an encrypted drive, right-click the drive and choose ‘Change Bitlocker password’.
Note: This option will not appear for drives that are not encrypted.
2. Enter the old and new password, and confirm the new password. Select Change password to save the change.
