manage-bde.exe | Cheatsheet

manage-bde is a command-line tool that can be used for scripting BitLocker operations. manage-bde offers additional options not displayed in the BitLocker control panel. For a complete list of the manage-bde.exe options, see the Manage-bde command-line reference.

manage-bde includes fewer default settings and requires greater customization for configuring BitLocker. For example, using just the manage-bde.exe -on command on a data volume will fully encrypt the volume without any authenticating protectors. A volume encrypted in this manner still requires user interaction to turn on BitLocker protection, even though the command successfully completed because an authentication method needs to be added to the volume for it to be fully protected. The following sections provide examples of common usage scenarios for manage-bde.

manage-bde.exe -status
BitLocker Drive Encryption: Configuration Tool version 10.0.19041
Copyright (C) 2013 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.   

Disk volumes that can be protected with
BitLocker Drive Encryption:
Volume C: []
[OS Volume]

    Size:                 139,45 GB      
    BitLocker Version:    None
    Conversion Status:    Fully Decrypted
    Percentage Encrypted: 0,0%
    Encryption Method:    None
    Protection Status:    Protection Off
    Lock Status:          Unlocked      
    Identification Field: None
    Key Protectors:       None Found    

Commands