How to recover a bitlocker key if it is not on my account?

Question

How to recover a bitlocker key if it is not on my account?

Sarah Kotrash 0

Hello,

I bought my brand new Asus laptop on September 2020 and a couple of month ago my Bitlocker got activated (This is the first time I ever hear of Bitlocker) and on the blue screen it mentions that a backup on June 2020 exists for the key. When I contacted my supplier, they mentioned Microsoft are the only entity that can assist me.

Is there any possible way to retrieve the key in this case?

Thank you

1 answer

Your answer

Answer 1

DaveM121 851.6K Independent Advisor

If your drive is encrypted with Bitlocker, the only place the Bitlocker Recovery key is automatically stored is on the associated Microsoft account on the link below, be sure to check any Microsoft account that may have been used on the PC and also any work or school account that may be linked to the PC.

https://account.microsoft.com/devices/recoverykey

Are you able to find the Bitlocker Recovery Key on any account that may have been used or linked to the laptop?

If not, do you have a safe backup of your files, or use a cloud service like OneDrive to sync your files online?

Sarah Kotrash 0 Reputation points

2026-02-09T12:54:25.7+00:00

The key is not stored on my microsoft account, my blue screen is indicating that there is a back up for the key two month before I purchased my laptop from the dealer. Some files are not backed up unfortunately.

I have never heard of Bit locker in my life until it happened so I am baffled that it was activated without my knowledge.
DaveM121 851.6K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-02-09T12:57:08.46+00:00

If you are unable to find the Bitlocker Recovery Key on any account that may have been used on that device, then I am sorry for the bad news, the only way to access that device is to create a bootable Windows 11 USB on another working PC and use that to clean install Windows and at the start of the installation, delete all partitions on the drive to remove the encryption, which will sadly result in loss of all data on the drive.
Sarah Kotrash 0 Reputation points

2026-02-09T13:00:03.2066667+00:00

I understand that a data lose may occur, what is interesting to me that there is back up for the key two month prior to my purchase (Take into consideration it was a brand new laptop) Is that even possible? Can the supplier have such information?
DaveM121 851.6K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-02-09T13:04:35.19+00:00

That is strange, unless that laptop was purchased by someone else, then returned to the retailer before your purchased the laptop and if that is the case, then the Bitlocker Recovery Key may be associated to the previous owners account.

Share via

How to recover a bitlocker key if it is not on my account?

1 answer

Your answer