# Microsoft BitLocker 45 Hacker News commenters recommended Microsoft BitLocker and 115 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 8 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 10.7 years (3 owners). **Verdict:** Built-in full-disk encryption that protects a stolen laptop's data, especially with a PIN; critics distrust Microsoft's key escrow and cite backdoor and recovery concerns. ## Why people recommend it - PIN adds protection beyond TPM alone (5 comments): "A vulnerability can't leak your key if the TPM doesn't know the entire key and relies on the user to supply the missing parts of the key in the form of a PIN." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48766403)) "A vulnerability can't leak your key if the TPM doesn't know the entire key and relies on the user to supply the missing parts" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48768577)) "If you're at all serious about security and not user convenience, you deploy BitLocker with a PIN instead of TPM only." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48764646)) - Good default for most users (6 comments): "the default Secure Boot BitLocker configuration, for all its architectural tradeoffs, can probably be credited for an enormous amount of data loss mitigation" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48764690)) "It's certainly a reasonable default. People lose or have their laptops stolen much more often than they get targeted by their governments." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46738783)) "It's a fairly reasonable default setting for average users who simply want their data protected from theft." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46745749)) - Protects data when laptops are stolen (5 comments): "It protects their data in the event that someone steals the laptop, but still allows them to recover their own data later from the hard drive." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46735749)) "Does the encryption keep the user's data safe if the device is lost or stolen? Yes? Then it fulfills its main purpose." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48535860)) "It's a fairly reasonable default setting for average users who simply want their data protected from theft." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46745749)) - Easy to set up and use (4 comments): "It's a few clicks to choose to re-key and not have the key saved to your Microsoft account." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46745897)) "the nice thing about Bitlocker is that you don't need to put in your key 99% of the time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46748693)) "That's something that even your Grandma can do, as opposed to installing VeraCrypt" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47703877)) ## What people warn about - Microsoft holds keys, accessible to governments (8 comments): "Microsoft cares so little about privacy and security that they would do it just to end the help customers who lose their key support tickets" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46736094)) "There is reasonable suspicion, some might argue evidence, that Microsoft voluntarily cooperated with U.S. Intelligence Community" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46745652)) "Companies know that putting themselves in a position where they can betray their users, means they will be forced to do so." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46740093)) - Suspected backdoor (4 comments): "Bitlocker by default (although there is a convenient backdoor for high-paying customers" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46042362)) "while bitlocker may be backdoored in the same way, it is at least maintained" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46740104)) "It seems undeniably a backdoor, why on earth would a very specific folder/file name and a specific boot combination just "magically" open up an encrypted drive." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48131326)) - Hard to configure more securely (2 comments): "It's straightforward to configure BitLocker disk encryption to be more secure, but it creates enormous headaches for admins, so they don't do it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48137313)) "I've always found it silly that Microsoft's default BitLocker implementation doesn't make it easy to do the obvious thing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48137163)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [VeraCrypt](https://hackerapproved.com/p/veracrypt.md): 45 recommend - [LUKS](https://hackerapproved.com/p/luks.md): 32 recommend - [TrueCrypt](https://hackerapproved.com/p/truecrypt.md): 9 recommend - [FileVault](https://hackerapproved.com/p/filevault.md): 8 recommend - [systemd-cryptenroll](https://hackerapproved.com/p/systemd-cryptenroll.md): 7 recommend ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/operating-system-security/data-protection/bitlocker/) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Microsoft BitLocker", https://hackerapproved.com/p/bitlocker/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).