Bitlocker has locked my device but I did not set this up.

Question

I did not set up bitlocker however when I tried to turn my laptop on it has been locked. When I log onto my Microsoft accounts through my phone is says no bitlocker has been set up. How can Microsoft just lock my laptop like this when I did not set this up? How to get back on my laptop without wiping all the data?

Answer 1

Hi, I'm Arlene, an independent advisor, I understand how worrying this must be, especially if you never knowingly set up BitLocker.

BitLocker can sometimes be automatically enabled by Windows on devices that meet certain security requirements, especially if you're signed in with a Microsoft account. This is more common on devices running Windows 10 or 11 Home editions.

The recovery key is usually backed up to your Microsoft account automatically but if you log in and don’t see it at https://account.microsoft.com/devices/recoverykey, you might’ve used a different Microsoft account on the laptop, or the key might’ve been saved elsewhere (like a USB drive, printed copy, or with your IT admin if it’s a work/school device).

By the way, you won’t be able to bypass BitLocker without the recovery key, but once we track it down, you should be able to unlock the device without losing data.

Hope it helps. Please let me know if you need further assistance.

Regards,

Arlene D.