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Bugs Killed

Windows

BitLocker was blocked by a conflicting startup authentication policy

BitLocker was not resuming because a Group Policy required a USB drive at startup. The authentication policy was adjusted, BitLocker resumed normally, the recovery key was saved to Entra ID, and a test file save did not trigger another BitLocker prompt.

Killed once by someone from XL.net, on 2026-07-21.

Affects

Apps

  • BitLocker

What you see

  • Unfamiliar BitLocker/encryption notifications
  • BitLocker prompting as if startup authentication needed a USB drive

Why it happens

Likely A conflicting Group Policy required a USB drive at startup, which prevented BitLocker from resuming normally.

When it shows up

A Windows PC shows unexpected BitLocker or encryption notifications and BitLocker is blocked by startup authentication policy.

You are in this case if:

  • BitLocker startup authentication requires a USB drive
  • Group Policy is enforcing BitLocker USB startup authentication

1 fix below

The steps that killed it

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Someone from XL.net killed this on a Windows computer on 2026-07-21. It is written up from that one repair, so it cites no outside page.