How to Use Clonezilla to Clone BitLocker Drive: Full Guide

Can Clonezilla Clone a BitLocker Drive?

Clonezilla is a powerful, free, open-source disk cloning and imaging software. It supports disk-to-disk cloning, bare-metal backups, disk imaging, image restoration, and multicast cloning for mass deployment. However, when it comes to Clonezilla BitLocker drive, things may not go as expected.

By default, Clonezilla cannot clone a BitLocker drive while the encryption is active. The encryption prevents Clonezilla from accessing the data, rendering the cloning process ineffective. To clone such a BitLocker-encrypted drive using Clonezilla, you must first decrypt it.

How to Use Clonezilla to Clone BitLocker Drive

After decrypting the BitLocker drive, follow these steps to clone it using Clonezilla:

Step 1. Prepare Clonezilla Boot Media

• Visit the official Clonezilla website and download the Clonezilla ISO.
• Use a tool like Rufus to create a bootable USB drive.

Step 2. Boot into Clonezilla

• Connect the target HDD/SSD to your computer.
• Insert the USB drive into the computer and boot from it.
• Choose Clonezilla Live from the boot menu.

Step 3. Select the Cloning Mode

• Choose the language and keyboard layout, and click on Start Clonezilla to continue.
• Choose device-device mode to clone directly from one drive to another.
• Opt for Beginner mode for default settings.

• Select disk_to_local_disk local_disk_to_local_disk_clone for cloning BitLocker drive to SSD.

Step 4. Choose Source and Target Drives

• Select the decrypted BitLocker drive as the source. Choose the destination drive for the clone.
• Here you can set advanced options like checking source file system or just skipping checking/repairing source file system.

Step 5. Review and Confirm Clonezilla BitLocker Clone Options

Choose the action to perform when the cloning is done. Then, Clonezilla will show a summary of what’s about to happen. Type Y to confirm and start cloning.

Important Notes for Clonezilla encrypted drive clone:✎...

Be sure to decrypt the hard drive before Clonezilla BitLocker clone, otherwise the cloning may fail.

Clonezilla requires that the destination drive has equal or greater capacity than the source drive. It does not allow cloning a larger hard drive to a smaller drive, like cloning 1TB HDD to 500GB SSD.

Best Way to Clone BitLocker Encrypted Drive without Decryption

What if you have forgotten BitLocker password? Is it possible to clone a BitLocker drive without decryption? Yes, with the specialized cloning software - AOMEI Cloner, you can easily clone drive with BitLocker enabled. Unlike Clonezilla, this tool comes with an intuitive interface and allows BitLocker-active cloning. And it offers various functions:

To clone a Windows 11 install with BitLocker or clone an entire disk with BitLocker encryption on, follow the guidelines below:

Step 1. Install and launch AOMEI Cloner. Click Clone from the left and then select Disk Clone. Or, you could use the System Clone option to migrate only Windows installation to another drive.

Step 2. Select the BitLocker encrypted drive as the source disk.

Step 3. Specify your new SSD/HDD as the destination disk.

Step 4. Check the operation summary and click Start Clone. If you are cloning to an SSD, don’t forget to tick SSD Alignment to improve the reading and writing speed of the target SSD and extend its service life.

• Ensure that the destination drive has equal or greater capacity than the source drive when using Sector By Sector Clone. That is to say, do not tick this option unless you are cloning to a larger SSD.

FAQs about BitLocker Drive Clone

#1. What is BitLocker used for?

BitLocker is a full-disk encryption feature included with Windows. It is used to protect data by encrypting the entire drive and preventing unauthorized access, especially in the event of physical theft.

#2. Does BitLocker prevent drive cloning?

BitLocker encryption can prevent standard cloning tools, like Clonezilla, from accessing and copying data. However, using a professional cloning tool like AOMEI Cloner, you can clone disk with BitLocker enabled.

#3. Can Macrium Reflect clone a BitLocker drive?

Yes, you can perform a Macrium Reflect BitLocker drive clone. It supports both encrypted and decrypted states:

• If you clone the drive while it's unlocked, the data is copied as-is, and the destination drive can remain encrypted or be unencrypted based on settings.
• If you clone the drive while it's locked, the clone will include the encrypted data block-by-block.

#4. Does formatting a drive remove BitLocker encryption?

Yes, formatting a drive removes BitLocker encryption, but only if you choose a full format or overwrite the encrypted data. A quick format may leave some encrypted data behind, though it renders the data inaccessible.

#5. Can I move a BitLocker drive to another computer?

Yes, you can move a BitLocker-encrypted drive to another computer, but you will need the BitLocker recovery key or password to unlock it.

Conclusion

All in all, to perform Clonezilla BitLocker drive clone, you need to decrypt the hard drive for cloning purposes. Alternatively, tools like AOMEI Cloner provide a solution to clone encrypted drives without decryption. In addition to clone hard drive to SSD, you can also use this software to clone SSD to SSD, clone external hard drive/USB drive/SD card, and so on.