How to Encrypt Hard Drive Windows 11?

Anna

updated on 2022-02-09 to How To

Windows 11 is today and has some new bells and wishes. One notable change was the focus on security and isolation. For case, the TPM2.0 chip was made compulsory, and device-wide encryption was enabled by dereliction. Still, for some Windows 11 Home users, the Device Encryption option is fully missing in Settings. Why is that chancing, and how do we fix it?

Why Is Device Encryption Missing In Windows 11 Home?

In order to understand why Device Encryption is missing for some users, we first need to dig into sleep mode and current dependence.

Sleep mode, when enabled, allows users to wake up their computer double-quick. This eliminates the need to boot from scrape. When the computer enters sleep mode, it's locked and encrypted.

To cipher data in Windows 11 Home, Microsoft uses BitLocker – but not the full performance with the advanced features, as that’s reserved for Windows 11 Pro. This results in longer wake times, so Microsoft added current Standby. It keeps certain processes and programs running in the background when a PC is in sleep mode. To enter these processes and programs, Modern Standby needs to decrypt data that's encrypted automatically in sleep mode.

Current dependence is directly linked to the device encryption point in Windows 11 Home. It needs this access to perform its job. So what’s the problem?

As it turns out, Modern Standby is missing on some Windows 11 Home computers. When this happens, the Device Encryption option is also missing since the two are connected. Mostly, it’s a bug, one that prevents your Windows 11 Home computer from cracking data when the computer is in sleep mode, hibernation, locked, idle, or shut down. It isn't clear why yet, but the bug only affects some Windows 11 Home computers.

Note that current Buttress isn't the same as sleep mode. They're two separate features with two separate, albeit related, jobs. Sleep mode puts your computer to sleep, while Modern Standby keeps certain processes running to better wake-up times. Indeed if Modern Standby is missing, sleep mode will work ideally on your computer – it just WO not be suitable to encrypt data, and wake-up times will be slightly longer.

In order to understand why Device Encryption is missing for some users, we first need to dig in to sleep mode and Modern Standby.

How to Know If Device Encryption Is Missing on Your Windows 11 Home

There are a many ways to find out whether encryption is working on your Windows 11 Home computer.

Open “My Computer,” and if you see an unlock icon on the C drive, the drive is translated. It could be another drive, but the C drive is generally where the operating system and important apps and lines are stored.

Encrypt Hard Drive Windows 11

Another way is to check for Device encryption settings.

Open “Windows Settings” and go to “Settings-> Privacy & security.” If you ca not see Device encryption listed as in the screenshot below, it's missing due to the Modern Standby conflict.

Encrypt Hard Drive Windows 11

You do need to satisfy some criteria for the encryption to work on Windows 11 Home. Otherwise, you won’t even see the option to enable/disable it. Let’s take a look at that criteria.

How Device Encryption Works on Windows 11 Home

Still, follow these way to encrypt data on your computer, if you do have the Device Encryption option within Windows 11 Home Settings.1. Press Win I keys to navigate to “Settings-> solitude & security.” Click on “Device encryption.”

Encrypt Hard Drive Windows 11

Alternative Ways to Encrypt Data on Windows 11 Home

Still, these options to encrypt your data or indeed your entire hard drive may help, If Device Encryption is not available in your PC running Windows 11 Home.

Encrypt and Store Data Safely Using OneDrive

OneDrive comes with a unique point Personal Vault. It's a special folder created by failure inside the OneDrive primary brochure, which is translated by oversight. You can store any and all train formats inside it. The free account of OneDrive only supports storing up to three enough limited lines, so you'll need to upgrade.

On the else side, your data is translated and stored in the cloud, so indeed if thing does be to your computer, you can enter it on another computer. It works on Android and iOS too. We also recommend enabling 2FA for your Microsoft account.