How to Clone BitLocker Encrypted Hard Drive [Proven Way]
Can you clone a BitLocker drive?
I have a computer that is running Windows 10. My current hard disk drive is encrypted with BitLocker, now I want to clone it to a larger newly purchased SSD so that I can replace it without reinstallation. I know that cloning a disk without encryption is not tough, but I have no idea about how to clone a BitLocker encrypted hard drive to SSD? Is there any advice on such a hard drive cloning task? Thanks in advance!”
BitLocker Drive Encryption, also known as BitLocker, is a standard feature in Microsoft Windows operating systems. It is intended to protect your drive from unauthorized access and your data, even if someone physically removes your drive and tries to access it from another computer.
Because your drive is encrypted, when it comes to BitLocker drive cloning, regular cloning software may fail as it can’t access data on the drive. Although it might seem like an impossible feat to clone Bitlocker encrypted hard drive, it can be done. Keep reading to get the proven way.
Best cloning software to clone Bitlocker drive
To clone BitLocker encrypted drive in Windows 10, Qiling Disk Master Professional, reliable and powerful cloning software, should be your best choice. It's warmly welcomed by users because it can perfectly ease many cloning problems like coping disks with bad sectors.
This software allows you to clone BitLocker encrypted disk without unlocking the drive using the Sector-by-Sector Clone method. As this cloning method will copy all sectors including unused sectors, it requires that the capacity of the destination disk is not smaller than the capacity of the source BitLocker encrypted disk.
Tip: It works smoothly in Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7, XP, and Vista. If you are using Windows Server 2022/2019/2016/2012 (R2)/2008(R2), Qiling Disk Master Server is suitable.
[Stepwise] How to clone BitLocker drive to SSD or HDD in Windows 11/10/8/7
Once you decide to clone Bitlocker encrypted disk, the following tutorial will help you get it done in a fast and safe way.
Step 1. Connect destination disk to your computer and make sure it can be detected by the operating system. All data on this selected destination will be wiped out after this operation; you’d better back up important files on it at first.
Note: It's available to free download the demo version of Qiling Disk Master Professional to see how to clone bitlocker drive!
Step 2. Install and run Qiling Disk Master Professional. In the main user console, go to Tools and utilities> Clone Disk.
Step 3. In this screen, choose the BitLocker encrypted hard drive that you want to clone as source disk (here is Disk 0).
Step 4. In the next window, choose Sector-by-Sector Clone between two listed methods and click Next button.
Step 5. In this window, choose your destination disk (here is Disk 2) and click Yes> Next.
Step 6. You can preview the result of the cloning operation. If you are satisfied, click Proceed to commit operation. This is the whole process of cloning BitLocker drive.
◤ Qiling Disk Master Professional supports you to clone various hard drives belonging to different brands, including Samsung, SanDisk, Seagate, etc.
◤ To clone a hard drive without encryption to a smaller SSD/HDD, choose Clone Disk Quickly method, which will only copy used sectors on the source hard drive.
Final words
Obviously, with Qiling Disk Master Professional, you can clone a BitLocker drive to SSD or HDD within a few steps. As comprehensive software, it provides many other useful functions. For example, it can convert to GPT and rebuild MBR, enabling you to repair boot failure out of corrupted MBR; it can extend C drive without deleting partition, helping you to solve the C drive full problem.
Related Articles
- How to Mirror a Hard Drive to SSD without Losing Data [2 Ways]
Learn how to mirror a hard drive to external hard drive (HDD or SSD) easily in Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10, 11 with the best hard disk cloning software - Qiling Disk Master. - Freeware: Move C Drive to Larger Disk Without Reinstalling Windows
When you need to move C drive to larger disk, you can use the best software: Qiling Disk Master Professional. It is able to help you transfer operating system drive to a large hard disk and boot from it successfully without reinstalling everything. - Best OCZ Data Migration Software for Clone & Backup
Do you still have an OCZ SSD and want to migrate the data on it? OCZ data migration is a hard job if you do it manually. But with this free cloning tool, things get much easier... - Fixed: Samsung Data Migration Not Working with Windows 11, 10, 8, 7
Samsung Data Migration not working during cloning disk to Samsung SSD? This article will tell you why and how to fix it effectively.