By Achilles Hill | Last Updated
"I cannot unlock my external hard drive encrypted with BitLocker in my Windows 10 Pro computer because of the message - The BitLocker encryption on this drive isn't compatible with your version of Windows. Try opening the drive using a newer version of Windows. How can I fix it?"
This BitLocker incompatible issue bothers some Windows 10 users when they are going to access an encrypted external drive on other computer. If you are one of these users, then don't hesitate to follow this tutorial to fix the issue "The BitLocker encryption on this drive isn't compatible with your version of Windows" for your BitLocker external drive in Windows 10.
In case that the broken USB port stops the correct connection between your Windows 10 computer and the BitLocker external drive, you can try to disconnect the BitLocker drive from your PC and then insert the drive into a different USB port. Now, check whether the issue is resolved.
The way to update BIOS varies depending on the computer manufacturers. You can search "your computer manufacturer + update BIOS" online and access the official page to get the detailed steps. Before updating BIOS, you are highly suggested to backup your important data because improper operation during BIOS update could cause data loss. In addition, if you update BIOS in the laptop, please make sure that there is enough power remaining in its battery.
You can find another Windows 10 PC in different version and attach your BitLocker external drive to it. Then try to unlock the BitLocker encrypted drive and you might find that the BitLocker drive works normally.
If it can work to unlock your external drive, you can update the Windows 10 version on your PC. If it still fails, you can get a Windows 7/8 computer and have a try. If the BitLocker encryption can work on Windows 7/8, you can turn off the BitLocker protection and then go to your Windows 10 to add BitLocker on it. As different encryption algorithms are applied to Windows 10 and 8/7: AES encryption algorithm for Windows 7/8.1 while XTS-AES for Windows 10, the external drive encrypted in Windows 7/8 cannot be unlocked in Windows 10. So you can access the BitLocker drive in different Windows OS to check its compatibility.
When the fixes above fail to resolve the issue "The BitLocker encryption on this drive isn't compatible with your version of Windows" for you, you can attempt to unlock your external drive with iSunshare BitLocker Genius for Windows. It is a reliable disk encryption tool that not only enables you to encrypt the USB flash drive and external hard drive with BitLocker in Windows, but also provides easy-to-use functions for you to manage the BitLocker drive including unlocking the BitLocker drive that is what you need at this time. To apply its Unlock Drive option, only 4 steps are needed.
Step 1: Install and run iSunshare BitLocker Genius for Windows on your Windows 10 computer.
Step 2: Right-click the BitLocker external drive and select Unlock Drive option in its context menu.
Step 3: Choose to unlock the BitLocker drive with its correct password or recovery key.
Step 4: When the BitLocker drive is unlocked successfully, you can see a tips box, just hit OK button to exit the tool. Now, you can open the external drive to access the file you need.
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