Note: BitLocker is not supported on macOS. Related: How to Unlock BitLocker Encrypted USB Drive without Password This will take a while, depending on the capacity of your USB drive and the number of files to be encrypted.Īfter encryption, every time you plug this USB flash drive into any PC, you have to use your password or recovery key to unlock it to access the files inside. Just wait for the encryption process to complete. Step 4: Start encrypting the USB flash drive.Ĭhoose how much of your drive to encrypt and the encryption mode you want to use, and then click Start encrypting.īitLocker is encrypting the USB flash drive. Therefore, you need to choose a secure location to save the BitLocker recovery key. Step 3: Back up the BitLocker recovery key.īefore encryption begins, BitLocker will generate a recovery key that you can use to access the USB flash drive if you forget your password or lose your smart card. For convenience, you can select “Use a password to unlock the drive” and enter a secure password. Related: Can't Start BitLocker in Windows 10 Step 2: Choose an unlock method.īitLocker will ask you how you want to unlock the USB drive.

The BitLocker Drive Encryption wizard will open and quickly initialize the USB flash drive. Go to This PC, right-click the USB flash drive to be encrypted, and then select Turn on BitLocker from the context menu. Step 1: Open BitLocker wizard for the USB flash drive. Now, insert the USB flash drive to your Windows 10 computer and follow the steps below to encrypt it with BitLocker. BitLocker is integrated in the Windows system and is considered the most secure encryption method. To encrypt a USB flash drives on a Windows-based computer, BitLocker is of course the preferred method. Option 1: Encrypt a USB flash drive with BitLocker Option 2: Encrypt a USB flash drive without BitLocker.Option 1: Encrypt a USB flash drive with BitLocker.There are two options for you, using BitLocker or not using Blocker. Now, this article will show you how to encrypt a USB flash drive in Windows 10. So, that’s where encryption becomes valuable.Įncrypting a USB flash drive means that the USB drive will be locked, and anyone needs to enter the correct password to unlock it in order to access the data inside.

Imagine if your USB flash drive is lost or falls into the wrong hands, is your data safe? The answer is predictable.

However, due to their portability and removability, they face security risks. USB flash drives are a convenient way to store and transfer data. How to Encrypt USB Flash Drive with or without BitLocker in Windows 10

How to encrypt flash drive windows 10