🛡️ How to Add a “Lock with BitLocker” Option to Windows 11’s Context Menu

Intro hook: Most Windows users know how to unlock a BitLocker drive, but oddly enough, Microsoft never gave us a simple way to lock one again without rebooting. After some registry spelunking and PowerShell wrangling, here’s how to bring that missing feature back.

🔍 The Problem

• Windows lets you unlock BitLocker drives easily.
• But there’s no “Lock” button in File Explorer.
• The only official way is via manage-bde in an elevated command prompt — clunky at best.

⚙️ The Solution

Add a custom right‑click menu entry that calls manage-bde with the right arguments.

Registry snippet:

reg

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\LockBitLocker]
@="Lock with BitLocker"
"HasLUAShield"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\LockBitLocker\command]
@="powershell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command \"Start-Process manage-bde -ArgumentList @('-lock',(Split-Path '%V' -Qualifier),'-ForceDismount') -Verb RunAs\""

🧭 How It Works

• %V expands to the drive path (e.g. D:\).
• Split-Path -Qualifier trims it to D:.
• manage-bde -lock D: -ForceDismount tells Windows to lock the drive.
• -Verb RunAs forces elevation (UAC prompt).
• HasLUAShield adds the shield icon to the menu item.

⚠️ Limitations

• Won’t work on the OS drive (C:) — that’s by design.
• Only works on BitLocker‑protected data/removable drives.
• Unprotected drives will throw an error.
• On Windows 11, the option appears in the legacy context menu (Show more options).

🎉 The Payoff

Now you can right‑click any BitLocker‑protected drive and lock it instantly — no reboot, no command prompt gymnastics. A small tweak, but one that makes BitLocker feel complete.