I need help recovering a bitlocker password that has no account

Hello,

I am sorry for your loss.

I wish I could share good news, but the truth is no one can get you the bitlocker key, including Microsoft staff/support.

Typically by default, bitlocker is associated with the Microsoft account used during encryption. But you need to know the account credential to sign into here. https://account.microsoft.com/devices/recoverykey

Otherwise, it can be associated with his work account if he has set it up on his computer while encryption was implemtened on the drive, Then sign into https://aka.ms/aadrecoverykey and you need to know his work account credential.

There's also a chance he might have written it down somewhere or saved it as a local file and stored somewhere.

But regardless, Microsoft is not able to support bitlocker manually: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/find-your-bitlocker-recovery-key-6b71ad27-0b89-ea08-f143-056f5ab347d6

Recovering a BitLocker password without an associated Microsoft account or recovery key can be quite challenging. Here are some steps you can consider:

1. Check for Recovery Key: If the USB drive you found has a BitLocker password, it might also have a recovery key associated with it. Look for any documents or notes your dad may have left that could contain the recovery key.
2. Use the Device ID: Since you have the device ID, you can attempt to locate the recovery password using the helpdesk recovery process if the device was managed by an organization that might have stored recovery keys in Active Directory or Microsoft Entra ID. However, this typically requires access to those systems.
3. BitLocker Repair Tool: If you can access the drive as a secondary drive on another device, you can try using the BitLocker Repair Tool to recover the data. This tool can sometimes help in accessing the drive even if the password is not known.
4. Professional Data Recovery Services: If the data is critical and you cannot access it through the above methods, consider reaching out to professional data recovery services that specialize in encrypted drives. They may have advanced tools and techniques to help recover your data.

Unfortunately, without the recovery key or a Microsoft account, options are limited. It's crucial to keep backup copies of recovery keys in safe locations to avoid such situations in the future.

References:

• BitLocker recovery process
• Helpdesk recovery