Written by
Wilsey YoungBitLocker is a special data protection feature included within most Windows operating systems. It helps protect your sensitive and important data against data theft and unauthorized access, even if the device is stolen or lost.
Some Windows users open the “BitLocker Drive Encryption” panel and notice the unlocked padlock icon with a triangular yellow exclamation mark, at the same time, there is a prompt saying “BitLocker waiting for activation”, as the picture below shows:
You can keep reading this post to get a grip on what “BitLocker waiting for activation” indicates and how to remove BitLocker waiting for activation issues on Windows.
What does BitLocker waiting for activation indicate?
According to our survey on this issue, we discovered the possible cause related to this prompt BitLocker waiting for activation:
When you see "BitLocker waiting for activation" in the BitLocker Drive Encryption panel, it tells you the BitLocker has been set up but not yet fully activated. This message also means the BitLocker encryption process has not started or completed, and the drive is still exposed to the danger of data leak until you complete the steps of enabling BitLocker.
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How to remove BitLocker waiting for activation?
Here we introduce some easy ways to turn off “BitLocker waiting for activation” shown in the BitLocker Drive Encryption panel.
Turn off BitLocker to remove BitLocker waiting for activation
If you no longer need BitLocker, you can manually turn off BitLocker via Command Prompt, which may help you fix the “BitLocker waiting for activation” issue.
- Type “cmd” in the Windows search bar and select “Run as administrator.”
- Copy and paste the command: manage-bde -ff C: into the command window and hit the “Enter” key on your keyboard. Note: You can replace the letter C in the command with the actual BitLocker drive letter.
Disable BitLocker and re-enable it to remove BitLocker waiting for activation
If you still want your data to be encrypted and protected by BitLocker, you can turn off the BitLocker and re-enable it, and the “BitLocker waiting for activation” issue will be resolved.
- Type “cmd” in the Windows search bar and click “Run as administrator.”
- Copy and paste the command: manage-bde -off C: into the command window and hit the “Enter” key. You should replace the letter C with the actual BitLocker encrypted drive letter. After the command is executed, close the command window.
- Open the “Control Panel”, choose “System and Security”, and click “BitLocker Drive Encryption.”
- Find the drive that shows “BitLocker waiting for activation” and click "Turn on BitLocker."
- Choose “Use a password to unlock the drive”, enter the password, and re-enter it to confirm. Click “Next” to continue.
- Choose how much of your drive to encrypt. Your choice will affect the encrypting time.
- Choose which encryption mode to use.
- Confirm the details and click “Start encrypting.” The more data your drive stores, the longer you wait for BitLocker encryption.
- You can check the BitLocker status to see if BitLocker is successfully activated.
Update drivers to remove BitLocker waiting for activation
Some outdated drivers may cause the “BitLocker waiting for activation” to show up, so the problem is supposed to be removed by updating the drivers.
- Press the “Windows+i” key to open “Settings” and click “Update & Security.”
- Choose “Windows Update” on the left side panel and click “Check for updates” on the right.
- If any updates are available, you can click “Install now.”
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