Bitlocker Won't Unlock Using Correct USB Flash Drive or Correct Recovery Key

Question

Ok, so I'm running a completely updated version of Windows 10 Pro on my Surface Book laptop. Earlier today I made my way to a screen that gave me the option to "Turn Bitlocker on" by clicking on those words as a blue hyperlink. I clicked the hyperlink. It asked me how I wanted to store the key and I chose USB Flash Drive. It instructed me to insert the Flashdrive and I did so. It behaved as if this task had been accomplished. Next, it asked me how I wanted to save my "Recovery Key", and I chose a paper printout, printed that and have it in my possession now. Then it asked me if I wanted to run some type of test prior to encryption and recommended that I do it, and I clicked yes. At this point, on my screen was a message stating something to the effect of "the system needs to be restarted", and so I opened up the power options and clicked "restart", and the computer appeared to be going through the normal restart procedure, only it got stuck for several hours on the very first black screen that just says "Surface" centered in the middle. I left it alone for about 3 hours, but when I came back and it was still stuck there, I hit ctrl-alt-del to try and restart the machine again. Long story short, it eventually ended up on the blue Bitlocker screen a couple of minutes later asking for me to plug in the usb drive with the key, which I did, but it responded with a yellow lettered message just below the prompt saying, "There isn't a valid recovery key on this drive. Plug in the USB...". I tried this several times unsuccessfully, until finally giving up and choosing to unlock using the Recovery Key instead... only when I type in the correct 48-digit recovery key (and I definitely entered it correctly several times now) , it immediately goes back to black screen that says "Surface", flashes some words about "Automatic Repair" on the bottom of the screen, and then goes to another blue screen that once again asks me if I want to enter a recovery key or use a usb.  When I choose recovery key and enter the correct key, I get the immediate yellow lettered message that says, "Failed to unlock with recovery key", and I'm basically just dead in the water. Since then, I've tried to unlock using several different attempted methods through Command Prompt, but nothing works.  When I put in the command to get key protectors, it gives me the External Key ID, the External Key File Name, and the Numerical Password ID, but no 48 digit recovery key below that. So, in a nutshell, I just turned Bitlocker on for the first time today, I have the correct usb that was used when prompted, I have the correct 48-digit Recovery key in hand, and I'm still somehow completely locked out... please advise. Thanks

Answer 1

Hello kdshields15,

Thanks for posting your concern here. We really understand the inconvenience this caused you. 

In this case, your PC might have encountered a certain number of failed attempts to sign in, a hardware malfunction, an unexpected configuration change, or another security event.

We recommend you to perform a USB recovery image on the device. This option reimages the entire device, including the partition on the hard drive. It is the most complete form of reset. You must have at least 16GB/32GB of USB Flash drive and it must be formatted to FAT32 prior to downloading the Recovery Image. 

Note: This removes all the files and apps on your device. You will need to back up your data and reinstall the desktop apps or run updates after the completion. 

To download the Recovery Image:

1. Visit the page at http://www.surface.com/support/warranty-service-and-recovery/downloadablerecoveryimage
2. Sign in with your Microsoft Account (this is the email address we asked you for at the start of the call)
3. From the list of Surface devices available, select the device that you need a recovery image for

Please note that while you will only be presented with devices that are currently registered on your account, you will also be presented with the option to get an image for a different type of device. If you try to use this option, you will be prompted to enter the serial number for that device 4. Download the recovery image using the button on the page 5. When the download bar pops up at the bottom of your screen, save the file in a location you will be able to find it.

 Format USB Drive:

1. Insert your USB drive into the USB port of your PC.
2. From the desktop, open File Explorer
3. Tap and hold or right-click on the USB drive and choose Format
4. Select FAT32 as the file system and enter a Volume label to name the USB drive, such as RECOVERY, and then tap or click Start
5. Tap or click OK to erase the contents of the USB drive
6. Tap or click OK when the format is complete

Create a recovery drive:

1. On your Surface or PC, open recovery image that you downloaded by double-clicking it
2. At the top of the window tap on Extract and then Extract all. Select the USB drive you formatted earlier for the location and click Extract.

Perform USB recovery image:

1. Turn the Surface off by pressing the power button
2. Insert the USB recovery drive into the USB port
3. Press and hold the volume-down (-) rocker
4. Press and release the power button
5. When the Surface logo appears, release the volume-down (-) rocker
6. When prompted, choose your language options and keyboard layout
7. Select Troubleshoot
8. Select System Image Recovery. Recovering this PC. If prompted for BitLocker Key, tap Skip this Drive.
9. If prompted, select Repartition the drives

Hope this helps.

Kind regards,

StevenK