Windows cannot be installed, BitLocker drive encryption is enabled

While installing Windows, you may see the “Windows cannot be installed. BitLocker drive encryption is enabled” error. This error occurs when the selected hard drive partition is protected with BitLocker. You cannot install Windows on that hard drive partition until you unlock it and disable BitLocker. This article shows you how to fix this error and install Windows.

The complete error message is:

Windows Setup: Windows cannot be installed to this hard disk space. BitLocker Drive Encryption is enabled on the selected partition. Suspend (also referred to as disable) BitLocker in the Control Panel, and then restart the installation.

Windows cannot be installed, Bitlocker drive encryption is enabled

To fix the “Windows cannot be installed. Bitlocker drive encryption is enabled” error, use these suggestions:

Unlock the BitLocker encrypted hard drive partition
Delete the BitLocker encrypted hard drive partition
Clean the BitLocker encrypted hard drive partition using the CMD

All these fixes are explained below in detail.

1] Unlock the BitLocker encrypted hard drive partition

If you have the BitLocker recovery key, you can unlock the BitLocker encrypted hard drive partition through the Control Panel. However, if your Windows OS is corrupted and you cannot boot into Windows, you must use the Command Prompt.

Press the Shift + F10 keys on the Windows installation screen to launch the Command Prompt. Type the following command and hit Enter:

manage-bde -status

The above command will show you the BitLocker status of all your hard drive partitions. You can see the protection status as On or Off. Now, unlock the protected hard drive partition by entering the following command in the Command Prompt:

manage-bde -unlock <partition letter>: -rp <BitLocker Recovery Key>

In the above command type the correct hard drive partition letter and your BitLocker recovery key. For example, if you want to unlock the hard drive partition D, then the command will be:

manage-bde -unlock D: -rp <BitLocker Recovery Key>

Now, the next step is to disable the BitLocker encrypted hard drive partition. To do this, use the following command:

manage-bde -protectors -disable <hard drive partition letter>:

Enter the correct hard drive partition letter. For example, for hard drive partition D, the command will be:

manage-bde -protectors -disable D:

Now, you should be able to install Windows.

2] Delete the BitLocker encrypted hard drive partition

If you do not have the BitLocker recovery key, you have to format the targeted hard drive partition to install Windows on it.

To do this, select the hard drive partition on the Windows installation screen and click Delete. Click OK to confirm. After that, you will see the Unallocated Space for that partition. Select the Unallocated Space partition and click New to activate the partition. Now, click Next and follow the on-screen instructions to install Windows.

3] Clean the BitLocker encrypted hard drive partition using the CMD

If the above method does not work, you can clean the BitLocker encrypted partition via the Command Prompt to install Windows. The steps to do this are as follows:

On the Windows installation screen, press the Shift + F10 keys to launch the Command Prompt. Now, type the following commands one by one and hit Enter after entering each command.

diskpart
list disk
select disk #
clean
create partition primary
active
format fs=ntfs quick
exit

Now, you should be able to install Windows on the formatted hard drive partition.

I hope this helps.

How do I unlock BitLocker encrypted drive in Windows?

The only way to unlock the BitLocker encrypted drive in Windows is by using the BitLocker encryption key. While encrypting a drive using BitLocker, you can save the key on your Microsoft account or print it on paper. However, saving it on your Microsoft account is the safest option.

How to recover a lost BitLocker key?

It is always suggested to store your BitLocker key safely, so you can recover it easily whenever required. The safest way to store the BitLocker key is to save it on your Microsoft account. However, if you have not saved it to your Microsoft account and lost the printed key, it will become very difficult for you to recover the BitLocker encryption key.