When you purchase an encrypted flash drive, you’ll still be required to select a password. If all the above steps feel overwhelming for you, you can choose to purchase a pre-encrypted flash drive instead. Once you receive this notification, it is safe to remove your flash drive from the computer.

You’ll receive a notification when the encryption process is complete.

Click “Start Encrypting.” Keep your flash drive plugged in for this entire process.

You can select the entire drive or the used disk space only.

The recovery key will let you recover the information on your flash drive in case you forget the password for your flash drive. Never reuse passwords across devices-your password for your flash drive should be completely new. It’s important that you choose a strong password that others wouldn’t be able to guess.

Choose a password that you’ll use to unlock your flash drive.

BitLocker is available on supported devices running Windows 10, Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, or Education.

Right-click your flash drive and select BitLocker, then turn BitLocker on.

If you can’t find it, simply press the Windows logo key + E on your keyboard.

Plug your flash drive into a USB port of your Windows computer.

Here’s how to make it happen when you’re using Windows: The steps one must take to encrypt a flash drive will vary depending on what operating system your computer uses. This means that if someone were to take your encrypted USB flash drive, they wouldn’t be able to read or access your files without the decryption key. With encryption, your data is translated into an unreadable format that can only be unscrambled with a password or decryption key. What is encryption?Įncryption is a method of securing data. Encrypting your flash drive will protect your data from cyber-attacks. If you plug your flash drive into an infected computer, your flash drive can also become infected by viruses or malware and infect other devices that you plug your flash drive into. There are some other security risks that thumb drive owners should be aware of.

Lock flash drive