Need to restore Bitlocker recovery keys because a device was removed from the account

Question

My MS account had a device removed from it, and I now have two drives that cannot be accessed because they have been locked by BitLocker. In Windows 11 Settings\Accounts\Linked devices, it's still showing my computer - but when I login to my MS Account there are no devices listed. I've had to access those recovery keys once or twice before, and everything worked fine without any incidents. However, they are no longer there.

I tried a command prompt solution I saw online but it was denied and the response was to check that I have administrative rights. According to the Win 11 Settings, I do have that.

Answer 1

Hi Frank Link,

Please visit Find your BitLocker recovery key for more information about finding your BitLocker recovery key. Additionally, you might have a backup on a file on an unencrypted partition, external drive, or cloud drive.

Please kindly check for BitLocker recovery key on all accounts that you have.

If you forget your BitLocker password and cannot find BitLocker recovery key, then no one even Microsoft can unlock your drive or restore BitLocker keys. It's how BitLocker was designed to protect your data. The only option is re-initiating the disk or deleting whole partition. More information can be found on BitLocker overview.

I hope that above information is helpful to you.

Answer 2

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, even if the device is not listed on your account, the Bitlocker Key may still be on tis link, 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.

Answer 3

BitLocker recovery keys cannot be restored or recreated once they are lost or removed from all backup locations. If the keys are no longer present in the Microsoft account and not stored anywhere else, the encrypted drives cannot be unlocked and the data on them cannot be recovered.

To confirm all possible locations where the keys might exist, check each of the following carefully:

1. Microsoft account backup
   • From another device, open a browser and go to https://aka.ms/myrecoverykey.
   • Sign in with every Microsoft account that might have been used when BitLocker was turned on (including any old or secondary accounts).
   • Look for an entry whose Key ID matches the first 8 digits shown on the BitLocker recovery screen for each locked drive.
2. Work or school account (if the device was ever joined to an organization)
   • From another device, open a browser and go to https://aka.ms/aadrecoverykey.
   • Sign in with the work or school account that might have been used.
   • Go to Devices, expand the relevant device, and select View BitLocker Keys.
   • Match the Key ID from the BitLocker screen with the listed keys.
3. Other common backup locations
   • Any printed copy of the BitLocker recovery key that might have been created when BitLocker was enabled.
   • Any USB flash drive where the key might have been saved as a text file.
   • If the device is or was managed by an organization (company/school), contact its IT/helpdesk to see if keys were escrowed in Microsoft Entra ID, Active Directory, Intune, or a BitLocker helpdesk portal.

If the recovery key cannot be found in any of these locations:

• Microsoft Support cannot retrieve, provide, or recreate a lost BitLocker recovery key.
• The only way to use the drives again is to remove the BitLocker encryption by resetting or reformatting them, which permanently deletes all data on those drives.
• For a system drive that will not unlock, use Windows recovery or clean installation media to delete the encrypted partitions and reinstall Windows. This will restore access to the drive but all existing encrypted data will be lost.

The command prompt/admin-rights issue does not affect the availability of the recovery keys themselves. Administrative commands cannot bypass BitLocker or regenerate a missing recovery key.

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References:

• Find your BitLocker recovery key
• BitLocker recovery process
• Windows devices for home users, businesses, and schools with Microsoft-managed updates
• BitLocker recovery key prompt on the Surface Book 2 13" after the August 2018 UEFI update
• BitLocker administration and monitoring website
• Bitlocker recovery key not working - Microsoft Q&A
• Request for Assistance with BitLocker Recovery – Surface Pro 2 - Microsoft Q&A
• Unable to recover Bitlocker key and unable to reload Windows 11 - Microsoft Q&A
• Surface Pro 3 blocked - Microsoft Q&A