Bitlocker key doesn’t exist

Question

My Microsoft surface pro won’t log on and keeps asking for a bitlocker key. I went to my Microsoft account and went to devices. I clicked on bit locker key and it said there was none for my computer even though the device name matched. I also tried to reset the computer and there was an error. Whether I kept my files or said to delete them it wouldn’t reset and kept giving me error codes.

*** Moved from Surface / Surface Pro / Surface Pro 7 / Performance and maintenance ***

Answer 1

Hello,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community forum.

Based on the description, I understand your question is related to find the Bitlocker recovery 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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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 you cannot access that drive.

Best regards,

Molly