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BitLocker unilaterally locked my external hard drive

Liebes 1 Reputation point
2022-10-04T14:57:20.923+00:00

BitLocker locked my external hard drive without being asked

I installed an NVME m.2 SSD in a laptop and loaded a bunch of content onto it. Used it fine for several months. I then sold the laptop, removed the hard drive, and installed it in my desktop only to discovered that the drive was now encrypted by BitLocker. This was a shock to me, because until this point, I had never even heard of BitLocker. I removed the hard drive and tried installing it in several other computers, but it remains locked everywhere. Unfortunately, I sold the original laptop before this problem came up, so I cannot test the drive in that computer.

Once again, I can assure you all that I have no recovery keys, because as I said, I did not lock the device, nor had I ever even heard of BitLocker until this time. (I checked anyway, there are not recovery keys to be found).

Is there any way to unlock this drive, or am I screwed and will have to format the drive to get access back?

Windows 10 Security
Windows 10 Security
Windows 10: A Microsoft operating system that runs on personal computers and tablets.Security: The precautions taken to guard against crime, attack, sabotage, espionage, or another threat.
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  1. Dillon Silzer 56,681 Reputation points
    2022-10-04T16:04:25.403+00:00

    Hi @Liebes

    Unfortunately if you do not have the BitLocker key, you will have to format the drive to be able to use this drive again.

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    If this is helpful please accept answer.

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