How to Enable Suspend/Resume BitLocker Protection for a Drive

Isabella Shinn

Updated: March 28, 2025

• Option 1: Enable suspend or Resume BitLocker in BitLocker Manager
• Option 2: Enable or disable suspend BitLocker in Command Prompt
• Option 3: Enable or disable suspend BitLocker in PowerShell

How to suspend or Resume BitLocker Protection in BitLocker Manager

Step 1 Click on the Start Menu. In the search box, type "Manage BitLocker", then hit Enter to open the Manage BitLocker window.

Step 2 Click Suspend protection for the desired drive.

Return to the Manage BitLocker window to Resume protection.

How to Suspend/Resume BitLocker Protection in Command Prompt

Step 1 Press Win + X, and A on the keyboard, it will open Command Prompt as an Administrator.

Step 2To enable suspend BitLocker protection for the drive, run the following command, then hit Enter. (Replace H with the drive letter that you want to suspend protection.)

manage-bde -protectors -disable H:

To resume BitLocker protection for the drive, run the following command:

manage-bde -protectors -enable H:

How to Suspend/Resume BitLocker Protection in PowerShell

Click on the Start Menu. In the search box, type "PowerShell", and right-click it in the result list and select to run it as Administrator. Learn more ways to run PowerShell as administrator in Windows 10.

To suspend the drive's BitLocker Protection for the system and fixed data drives, run the following command and press Enter. Replace H with the drive letter that you want to suspend protection.

Suspend-BitLocker -MountPoint "H:"

To resume BitLocker Protection, run the following command and press Enter.

Resume-BitLocker -MountPoint "F:"