BitLocker recovery key is a full-disk encryption feature in Microsoft Windows Pro and Enterprise operating systems. It is a unique 48-digit numerical password that can lock or unlock the data. However, some users reported that they got the error message – Please backup your BitLocker recovery key and suspend BitLocker encryption before updating the BIOS, when they tried updating the BIOS.
Please backup your BitLocker recovery key and suspend BitLocker encryption before updating the BIOS
Windows will prompt you to back up your BitLocker recovery key and suspend encryption before updating the BIOS for your own safety. To get around this issue, you must do the following things upon receiving the error message.
- Backup the recovery key
- Suspend the recovery key
Let us talk about them in detail.
1] Backup the recovery key
As prompted in the error message, the very first thing we have to do is to back up the recovery key. It is pretty simple to do the same, all you have to do is follow the steps mentioned below.
- Press the Windows key and search for BitLocker in the Windows search bar.
- On the top left corner of the window, click on Device Encryption settings.
- Now you are on the Device encryption page. Under the Related section click on the BitLocker drive encryption option.
- Go to the right side of the window and click on Backup your recovery key option.
- Here, click on Print the recovery key option (or one of the mentioned options).
- You can either take a printout of the recovery key or print it to PDF. For the latter, select the Microsoft Print to PDF option and click the Print button.
- Now, write the file name (BitLocker key) in which you want to take backup.
- Finally, click on the Save button.
This way, you have saved the recovery key. You may also write it down somewhere or take a picture of the key.
2] Suspend BitLocker Protection
Suspending BitLocker protection will disable the security feature for a while. However, you can resume it any time you want. We do this to get your system ready for a BIOS upgrade. Follow the steps mentioned below to suspend BitLocker Protection.
- Search Control Panel in the Start Menu search bar.
- Go to System and Security > BitLocker Drive Encryption
- Once you are on the BitLocker page, click on Suspend Protection.
- Click on Yes.
Now that the BitLocker is disabled, you can update your BIOS without expecting any error message.
Note: If you want to resume BitLocker, go to the same page – Control Panel > System and Security > BitLocker Drive Encryption, and click Resume Protection.
That’s it!
Read: Failed to open BitLocker Control Panel Tool, 0x80004005
Do I need to suspend a BitLocker before updating BIOS?
Most OEMs will ask you to suspend the BitLocker before updating the BIOS. Because if you decide not to suspend the BitLocker, when your system boots up after updating the BIOS, the recovery pin will be recognized. That is why you must take a backup of the recovery key and suspend the BitLocker before updating the BIOS.
Also Read: How to create a BitLocker Drive Encryption shortcut?
How do I suspend BitLocker encryption before BIOS update?
You can follow the steps mentioned in this post to suspend the BitLocker recovery before updating the BIOS. However, there is an alternate method to do the same. For that, open PowerShell as an administrator and run Suspend-BitLocker -MountPoint "C:" -RebootCount 0. Make sure to take a backup of the recovery pin before suspending BitLocker Protection.
Read: Your recovery key couldn’t be saved to this location – BitLocker.
