How to recover old laptop

Question

Unfortunately my grandfather passed away last may. My grannie would like access to his laptop because he kept their important things on there, however she can’t remember the password and his phone is long gone. So, we’re stuck with no access to his phone where everything was signed in, can’t change his email passwords without his phone, and can’t get into the laptop without it. Is there any possible way to get into it?

Answer 1

Hi Emma,

I’m very sorry for your family’s loss. And thanks for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A!

I understand how important it is to recover the data on your grandfather’s PC. Unfortunately, there is no supported or legal way to bypass a Windows password or Microsoft account security.

Windows encryption and account protection are designed so that even Microsoft cannot unlock a device without proper credentials. If the phone used for 2-step verification is gone, even the Account Recovery form won’t work.

Realistically, the only possible option to recover the data is to remove the internal hard drive / SSD and check the drive to see if you can save anything. However, this works only if BitLocker encryption was NOT enabled.

If you’re not confident in doing this yourself, you may want to reach out to a professional data recovery service. They can sometimes recover data, though the process is often expensive and success is not guaranteed.

Again, I am truly sorry for the situation you are in. I know this is not the answer you were hoping for, but I believe it is best to be direct and give you the correct information!

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