Most people who use the Home Edition of Windows 10 and 11 are unlikely to be aware that their computer also comes with a Microsoft encryption tool. On many computers, it’s even activated by default.

If you disable or do not configure this policy setting, BitLocker will use AES with the same bit strength (128-bit or 256-bit) as the “Choose drive encryption method and cipher strength (Windows ...

To secure the data, BitLocker uses an AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) encryption algorithm with a 128-bit key plus a data-mixing algorithmic function (known as an Elephant diffuser) for disk ...

In the BitLocker Drive Encryption window, you will see a couple of options. If the USB drive or hard drive is new and does not have any files on it yet, go with Encrypt used disk space only.

The BitLocker encryption built into higher-end versions of Windows Vista goes a long way toward locking out intruders at the boot-drive level, but it's neither 100% hassle-free nor 100% secure. Topics ...

Many corporate clients use BitLocker to secure their PC fleets, Lambertz noted, and the encryption technology is now being enabled by default on newer Windows 11 installations.

Autopilot allows the configuration of additional options, such as strengthening the Bitlocker encryption algorithm. On the Bitlocker CSP in Intune, you can specify a stronger algorithm such as XTS ...

If the drive doesn’t have hardware self-encryption (or you’re using Win7 or 8.1), BitLocker implements software encryption, which is less efficient, but still enforces password protection.

Encryption is an added level of security for you PC. Here are the pros and cons of Microsoft’s built-in encryption tool BitLocker.