Is there a "default recovery key" for BitLocker?

Question

I recently had an Intel NUC 13 die on a user (I'm sending it off to warranty, and it's likely a CPU/Motherboard failure).

Because he stores all his files locally, he had set up a Windows File History backup from which I restored the files to a temporary computer. Weirdly enough, a single (very important) file wasn't backed up properly, so I got the SSD from the other computer and plugged it in using an M.2 to USB adapter only to find out that the drive is BitLocker encrypted.

I haven't enabled BitLocker on that machine, nor have I got any prompts to set up BitLocker during Windows installation and set up. For one, I don't understand how the drive on that machine ended up BitLocker encrypted, and for two there are no recovery keys for that device on his Microsoft account page. I guess that Windows encrypts the drive by default on installation now, but how do I access the drive if I don't have any password/recovery key?

I tried booting from that drive on another computer, but it still asks me for a BitLocker recovery key (which makes sense). But how can I access this drive now? The board it was originally installed in is likely dead, and I probably won't be able to boot from that drive on the original setup anymore. Is there a "default recovery key" I can find somewhere? Or at least can I recover the data on that drive by some other means?

***Moved from Windows / Windows 10 / Security and privacy***

Answer 1

Hi, maybe it is not BitLocker, if do not have higher Windows licence, but it can be Device Encryption. In most cases it is created by secret stored in TPM chip in motherboard. This key is unique and generated per computer and session, so there are no default keys because everybody can read your data. If you sign-in with Microsoft account, there should be some backup in your account page, try to refer to Device encryption in Windows - Microsoft Support.

Answer 2

It's Windows 11 Pro, and it specifically asks me for a BitLocker Recovery Key when I try to access the drive, so I guess it's BitLocker. But there's no recovery key on the account (which is a work account, I don't know if that makes any difference), I checked on myaccount.microsoft.com/device-list and it says "No BitLocker recovery key found for this device".

Answer 3

And the answer is, the bitlocker screen tells you the answer. It says go to https://aka.ms/myrecoverykey which is news to me ... I have never seen this before. This came up on my NUC when I was trying to install ubuntu. I was thinking I didn't set it up because it wasn't something I wanted to mess with. But it was done for me by the OS I guess.

Answer 4

Hello,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community forum.

Based on the description, I understand your question is related to find the Bitlocker key.

Generally, we can refer to the following path to find out the BitLocker recovery key, because this is a personal information and will not be collected by Microsoft, so please kindly try to find carefully if the key was saved in below places:

• In your Microsoft account: Sign in to your Microsoft account on another device to find your recovery key: If the device was set up or BitLocker protection was activated by another user, the recovery key may be in that user’s Microsoft account.
• On a printout you saved: Your recovery key may be on a printout that was saved when BitLocker was activated. Look where you keep important papers related to your computer.
• On a USB flash drive: Plug the USB flash drive into your locked PC and follow the instructions. If you saved the key as a text file on the flash drive, use a different computer to read the text file.
• In an Azure Active Directory account: If your device was ever signed in to an organization using a work or school email account, your recovery key may be stored in that organization's Azure AD account associated with your device.

If you are unable to locate a required BitLocker recovery key, I am afraid we will have to rebuild the machine.

Best regards,

Molly

Answer 5

Please it will be great if microsoft can create a platform, algorithm or program where you can put your bitlocker key ID with other information to enable password/key recovery on bitlocker