Can I pause the running encryption of BitLocker?

I have a 3 TB external hard drive that I want to encrypt with BitLocker. I have chosen a strong password as my unlock method. TPM is not used.

Can I pause BitLocker's ongoing encryption so I can temporarily unplug the external hard drive? Will the encryption continue when I reconnect it?

1 Answer

While the computer is busy encrypting the drive, you can temporarily pause the Encryption. Open an Administrative command prompt and issue the following command:

manage-bde -pause X:

where X: is the drive-letter being Encrypted.

You can resume the Encryption process with the following command:

manage-bde -resume X:

This can be done for both Encryption and Decryption.

See Microsoft documentation atmanage-bde: pause.