How to Change the BitLocker Drive Encryption Method in Windows 11. Unlock different BitLocker encryption methods. Here’s how to change the BitLocker Drive Encryption method in Windows 11. Before we begin, be sure to subscribe to NinjaOne’s IT video hub and our YouTube channel for more tech content like this. BitLocker Drive Encryption, Explained. Encryption is one of the most important security measures used in enterprise environments, and tools like BitLocker offer admins a variety of encryption algorithms to choose from. Although XTS-AES 128-bit is BitLocker’s default method, users can change it to accommodate different hardware requirements or security standards. Here are four ways to change the encryption method on BitLocker. Methods to Change BitLocker Drive Encryption. Let’s begin with the Group Policy Editor. Open the Start Menu, search for “Edit group policy,” and click on it. Then, navigate to Computer Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, BitLocker Drive Encryption. Double-click on Choose drive encryption method and cipher strength (Windows 10 Version 1511 and later), and select Enabled. From there, you can configure your settings under the Options section, where you can change encryption methods for Fixed Data Drives, Operating System Drives, or Removable Data Drives. Besides the default XTS-AES 128-bit option, you can choose from one of three other options: AES-CBC 128-bit, AES-CBC 256-bit, and XTS-AES 256-bit. Once you have made your changes, click Apply, then OK, and close the Editor. To apply the changes, restart your system or run the gpupdate /force command on Command Prompt. The next method is through the Registry Editor. Open Registry Editor, and navigate to Then, select one of these three values: Afterwards, to choose an encryption method, change the value to one of the following numbers... Apply changes by restarting. For automated deployment in a managed environment, use PowerShell or create a .reg file. For the former, type the following command to change the encryption method for all three drive types... In this script, the encryption method is set to XTS-AES 256-bit. To change a specific drive, simply remove the lines you do not need. To change to encryption method, change the value to the following... .reg file For the latter, open Notepad and type in this script. Similar to PowerShell, you can delete lines or change values to configure a specific drive or change an encryption method, respectively. Save the file as “BitLocker_EncryptionMethod.reg” and double-click it to run the file. Restart to save changes. Changing encryption methods helps create a more secure enterprise environment. For more information, check out our official blog post on How to Change the BitLocker Drive Encryption Method on Windows 11, linked in the description below.