How do I reformat the Bootcamp partition when it is under bitlocker protection which I am unable to remove.

Question

Level 1

4 points

How do I reformat the Bootcamp partition when it is under bitlocker protection which I am unable to remove.

I want to clear my existing bootcamp partition however I get errors using Bootcamp assistant saying it needs me to disable bitlocker first. Unfortunately I am unable to login to the existing windows installation so I am unable to disable bitlocker. For that reason I'd like to just erase the existing bootcamp partition and start over.

I also tried disk utility app but it doesn't give me the option to select the bootcamp drive.

I also tried diskutil in the terminal mode to eraseVolume but that didn't do anything:

sudo diskutil eraseVolume JHFS+ deleteme/dev/disk0s3

Windows, Windows 10

Posted on Nov 24, 2022 6:12 PM

Reply

Answer 1

-Bubba-

Level 6

10,758 points

Nov 25, 2022 11:45 AM in response to choklatluvr

If you can't use BCA, your best option is to backup, erase, and migrate.

Reply

Answer 2

HWTech

Level 9

68,306 points

Dec 1, 2022 8:11 PM in response to choklatluvr

You need to select the whole physical drive to erase. Within Disk Utility you may need to click "View" and select "Show All Devices" so the physical drives appear on the left pane of Disk Utility. Make sure the partition type when you erase the drive is GUID (all done within the "Erase" tab of Disk Utility since the "Partition" tab had some functionality removed sometime after macOS 10.10).

Reply

Answer 3

-Bubba-

Level 6

10,758 points

Nov 27, 2022 9:42 AM in response to choklatluvr

Using Disk Utility in macOS Recovery will indeed erase the entire disk.

Reply

Answer 4

choklatluvr Author

Level 1

4 points

Dec 2, 2022 9:16 AM in response to choklatluvr

Ah, however in the mac os recovery version of disk utility I was able to erase the disk, finally I have the rest of my disk back, thanks so much!

Reply

Answer 5

choklatluvr Author

Level 1

4 points

Nov 29, 2022 11:23 AM in response to -Bubba-

I tried the macOS Recovery Disk Utility but the bootcamp did not show as a partition, it would only allow me to access and erase the mac hd (531gb) but doesn't even show the bootcamp disks03 (469gb) at all.

Reply

Answer 6

choklatluvr Author

Level 1

4 points

Dec 2, 2022 9:02 AM in response to HWTech

Thanks HWTech, that is an improvement. I can select the entire disk now, however the erase tab is disabled so I don't see any way to erase the entire disk. I also don't see the bootcamp/disks03 partition listed in the left pane, just the main Macintosh HD partition is selectable there (which I could erase if I wanted to).

Reply

Answer 7

choklatluvr Author

Level 1

4 points

Nov 25, 2022 6:18 PM in response to -Bubba-

Will this also delete the bootcamp partition? In the article it looks like it will only delete the Mac HD APFS, not clear if it will clear the entire disk or not.

Reply

How do I reformat the Bootcamp partition when it is under bitlocker protection which I am unable to remove.

Similar questions