Are files BitLocker encrypted or not on Win 10 Pro clean install on Inspiron 15 3511, and how to unlock them

I’m having my first experience with BitLocker on a new Inspiron 15 3511.  This was originally loaded with Windows 11 Home, but as this did not fit my needs, I cleanly loaded retail Windows 10 Pro to a blank 1 TB SSD.  In the process of creating partitions, I recall no option for enabling or disabling BitLocker.

The drive is now fully loaded, and I was going to use Acronis TrueImage /CyberProtect 2021 from a USB flash drive to image the Recovery Partition (509 MB), EFI System Partition (100 MB), and C: Partitions (250 GB).  When attempting to do so I, got an error that C: Partition (along with and E:) are BitLocker Encrypted, and they need to be de-encrypted before imaging.

I have read Dell Article # 000125409 (How to Enable or Disable BitLocker with TPM in Windows) which is not particularly helpful as I am unsure about where my "starting point" is (seeing as I did not intentionally encrypt this on my own - was I forced into this by the UEFI BIOS Settings, Windows 10 installation procedure, or both?).

What I know is:

From the TPM Management Snap-in “Status – TPM is ready for use”.

From the Computer Management/Storage Snap-in that C:, and E: are listed as “NTFS (BitLocker Encrypted)

From the Control Panel -> BitLocker Drive Encryption, each drive is listed as “DRIVE_C (C:) BitLocker Off” (same for and E:).  To the left of the listing, in small letters, is “Turn on BitLocker”.

This makes no sense to me – in one place it says the drives are Encrypted (and Acronis says this as well), and the other place that the Drives that BitLocker is “Off”.

Is there some kind of Intermediate state? Certainly I have seen nothing about BitLocker Encryption Keys to either lock or unlock the files.

The last thing I want to do is “mess this up” wasting hours of configuration in crashed/corrupted files.

Any thoughts?  And thanks in advance.

Computer Management-> StorageTPM ManagementBitLocker Status