In this post, we will show you how to fix a BitLocker drive that is stuck decrypting or encrypting on a Windows 11/10 PC. BitLocker encryption or decryption can take a few minutes to several hours, depending on the type and speed of the drive, the amount of data being processed, and system activity. However, a few users have reported that the process is taking unusually long and fails to make any visible progress.
According to the users, the progress percentage remains stuck at a particular value for several days. In some cases, the drive activity light keeps flashing for hours even though the BitLocker progress percentage doesn’t change. This can be concerning, especially when important data is stored on the affected drive or encryption or decryption needs to be completed as soon as possible.
BitLocker drive Encryption stuck in Windows 11
To fix a BitLocker drive if it is stuck on encrypting, use these solutions:
- Pause and Resume encryption
- Check the drive for file system errors
- Decrypt the drive and start a fresh encryption cycle
Let us see these solutions in detail.
1] Pause and Resume encryption
Start by pausing and resuming the encryption using the manage-bde tool.
manage-bde stands for Manage BitLocker Drive Encryption. It is a command-line tool that can be used to check the BitLocker status of a drive, encrypt or decrypt a drive, manage access to BitLocker-protected data, etc. Several users have reported that using the tool helped when BitLocker was not making any progress.
Open Command Prompt as Administrator and run:
manage-bde -status X:
Replace X: with the drive letter of the affected drive.
In the results, check the Conversion Status and Percentage Encrypted fields. This helps determine whether the encryption process is still running or has been paused.
If the encryption process is paused, resume it by running:
manage-bde -resume X:
Note: In the above command and the commands below, replace X: with the drive letter of the affected drive.
If BitLocker is not paused but the encryption percentage has remained unchanged for an unusually long time, reboot your PC, then try pausing and resuming the encryption process.
In an elevated Command Prompt, run:
manage-bde -pause X:
Then run:
manage-bde -resume X:
2] Check the drive for file system errors
If BitLocker encryption is still stuck, check the affected drive for file system errors. First, check Event Viewer for any disk-related errors.
Press Win + X and select Event Viewer. Go to:
Applications and Services Logs > Microsoft > Windows > BitLocker-API > Management
Look for recent Error or Warning events related to the affected drive. Also check Windows Logs > System for disk, storage, or NTFS-related errors.
If the logs report bad blocks or repeated disk errors, the problem may be related to the storage device rather than BitLocker itself.
You can also use CHKDSK to check the affected drive for file system errors. Open Command Prompt as Administrator and run:
chkdsk X: /f
The command checks for and fixes file system errors. If the Event Viewer logs report disk errors, run:
chkdsk X: /f /r
The /r parameter makes CHKDSK look for bad sectors and attempt to recover readable information. Please note that this can take considerably longer, especially on large drives.
Once CHKDSK completes, restart your PC and check the BitLocker status:
manage-bde -status X:
If the encryption percentage starts increasing, allow BitLocker to complete the process. If BitLocker is still stuck, check the health of the drive using a disk diagnostic tool. If the diagnostic results indicate that the drive is failing, consider replacing it.
3] Decrypt the drive and start a fresh encryption cycle
If the drive doesn’t report file system errors but BitLocker still stops at the same point, you can decrypt the drive and start a fresh encryption cycle. Use this as a last resort, as decryption can take considerable time.
Before proceeding, back up your important data.
Open Command Prompt as Administrator and run:
manage-bde -off X:
This starts decrypting the drive and turns off BitLocker. Wait for the decryption process to complete before starting encryption again. You can check its progress by running:
manage-bde -status X:
Once the drive shows that it is fully decrypted, start BitLocker encryption again:
manage-bde -on X:
BitLocker Decrypting stuck in Windows 11
To fix a BitLocker drive if it is stuck on decrypting, try pausing and resuming the decryption using the manage-bde -pause and manage-bde -resume commands. You can also check the drive for file system errors using Event Viewer and CHKDSK, as explained in the BitLocker encryption stuck section above. If these steps don’t help, try the following solutions.
- Restore partition size and resume decryption
- Shrink the volume
- Re-encrypt the drive, then decrypt it again
Let us look at these in detail.
1] Restore partition size and resume decryption
One user reported that BitLocker decryption became stuck after he resized the partition while decryption was in progress. Restoring the partition to its previous size and then resuming decryption solved the issue. Other users have also reported similar results with this workaround.
If you’re facing a similar situation, resize the partition back to its previous size using Disk Management.
Note: Changing the size of a partition while BitLocker is decrypting can carry risks, so make sure your important data is backed up before trying the solution.
Once you have restored the partition, open Command Prompt as Administrator and run:
manage-bde -resume X:
Then check the decryption status:
manage-bde -status X:
If the decryption percentage starts changing, let BitLocker finish the process.
2] Shrink the volume
Another user reported that BitLocker decryption became stuck after restarting the PC for a Windows Update. After the usual BitLocker commands failed to resume the process, the user shrank the volume below the remaining percentage left to decrypt using Disk Management. He could then resume decryption from the BitLocker management interface, and the process completed successfully.
Note: Before making any changes to the partition, back up your important data.
- Press Win + X and select Disk Management.
- Right-click the affected BitLocker volume and select Shrink Volume.
- Enter the amount by which you want to shrink the volume and click Shrink. For example, in the reported case, decryption was stuck at 88.9% on a 512 GB drive. The user estimated that around 450 GB had already been decrypted. Because the usable partition was about 470 GB, they shrank it by approximately 25 GB, reducing the partition to around 445 GB.
- Once the volume has resized successfully, open the BitLocker management interface and click Resume.
3] Re-encrypt the drive, then decrypt it again
If BitLocker decryption remains stuck after trying the above solutions, you can try re-encrypting the drive and then starting the decryption process again.
Before proceeding, back up your important data. This process requires the drive to be encrypted and then decrypted again, so make sure you have enough time for both operations to complete.
Open Command Prompt as Administrator and run:
manage-bde -on X:
Allow BitLocker to complete the encryption process. Once the drive is fully encrypted, start the decryption process again:
manage-bde -off X:
Then check the decryption status:
manage-bde -status X:
If the decryption percentage starts changing, allow BitLocker to complete the process.
I hope this helps.
Read: BitLocker asking for Recovery Key after Windows Update.
Why is my BitLocker decrypting taking so long?
BitLocker decryption can take several hours depending on the drive’s speed, size, and system activity. If the progress percentage remains unchanged for an unusually long time, use the troubleshooting methods discussed above to check whether the process is actually stuck.
How long does BitLocker take to encrypt Windows 11?
The time BitLocker takes to encrypt a drive depends on several factors, such as the drive’s speed and the amount of data being processed. On some drives, encryption can take several hours. A slow-moving percentage does not necessarily mean that BitLocker is stuck.
Read Next: How to manually prepare a drive for BitLocker in Windows.
