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Bitlocker locked my PC and I don't have any key on my account

Anonymous
2025-06-11T21:40:36+00:00

That's it, I had an key for an old PC and it was not the one they're asking.

I'm the only person who has ever used this PC and nobody helped me start it up. It's an Lenovo Yogabook 2 in 1.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Security and privacy

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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  1. quietman7 MVP Alumni 19,735 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2025-06-12T01:33:40+00:00

    These are Support and Help articles if you cannot find your BitLocker recovery key:

    • Finding your BitLocker recovery key in Windows

    Quote

    There are several places where your recovery key might be, depending on the choice that was made when activating BitLocker

    • Attached to your Microsoft account
    • Attached to your work or school account
    • On a printout if you printed your recovery key when BitLocker was activated
    • On a USB flash drive

    • How to Get BitLocker Recovery Key from CMD

    • Open an elevated Command Prompt that will run as administrator from Search.
    • Press the Windows Key or in the Search Box, type: cmd
    • Right-click on Command Prompt in the top search results and choose Run as Administrator.
    • Click Yes if prompted by the User Account Control.
    • At the command prompt C:\Windows\System32>_, type: manage-bde -protectors C: -get
    • Press Enter to see your TPM Identifier and Numerical 48-digit password.
    • When finished, type: exit

    • Dell: BitLocker is Prompting for a Recovery Key, and You Cannot Locate the Key
    • The problem with BitLocker: forgot the password/lost the recovery key - what should I do?

    You can also find the BitLocker Recovery Key in your cloud storage OneDrive account or look for a BitLocker Recovery Key.txt or .pdf file which you may have saved on the computer or somewhere else and forgotten about.

    If the BitLocker Recovery Key is not listed on your Microsoft Account, it may have been pre-enabled by the manufacturer at the factory which they should be able to tell you and provide what you need to know. If the manufacturer did not provide any information, then you will need to ask them how to locate your key.

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  2. EmilyS726 225.6K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2025-06-11T22:11:30+00:00

    Hello,

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

    Have you looked into the Microsoft account here to see if it is stored there? https://account.microsoft.com/devices/recoverykey

    Any chance your laptop was purchased used, or already set up for you? Or was it gifted? Or have you set it up with a different account at first? The key is stored with the very Microsoft account used to set up the computer for the first time, even if you had got rid of that account and set it up with a different account. So, if your computer was set up by anyone at the store you bought it from, it would be that person's account.

    If you set it up with school or work account, it is worth checking here as well https://aka.ms/aadrecoverykey sign in with your work/school email credential in that case.

    I assume you don't remember opting out of not saving it in Microsoft account, and saving it to a local file instead? That's another possibility.

    If you can't find it at all, there's really no way to crack it. Bitlocker means business. If it can be cracked, then it means the encryption is not working. Your only option is to do a clean install of Windows. In that case, you do lose your files. I am very sorry. I hate to share this kind of information, but I rather give you the correct info.

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