Bit locker

Question

Help. Trying to start my laptop and says I need recovery key. I have tried everything on support and can’t get this fixed. Recently upgraded to ms 365 premium so that may be the problem

Answer 1

I wish I could share good news, but the truth is no one can get you the bitlocker key, including Microsoft staff/support. https://support.microsoft.com/windows/find-your-bitlocker-recovery-key-6b71ad27-0b89-ea08-f143-056f5ab347d6 The link here says:"Important: Microsoft Support doesn't have the ability to retrieve, provide, or recreate a lost BitLocker recovery key."

Is this where you looked? https://account.microsoft.com/devices/recoverykey

If you set it up with school or work account, it is worth checking here as well https://aka.ms/aadrecoverykey sign in with your work/school email credential in that case.

Any chance your laptop was purchased used, or already set up for you? Or was it gifted? Or have you set it up with a different account at first? The key is stored with the very Microsoft account used to set up the computer for the first time, even if you had got rid of that account and set it up with a different account. So, if your computer was set up by anyone at the store you bought it from, it would be that person's account.

I assume you don't remember opting out of not saving it in Microsoft account, and saving it to a local file instead? That's another possibility.

If you can't find it at all, there's really no way to go around it. Bitlocker means business. If it can be bypassed, then it means the encryption is not working. Your only option is to do a clean install of Windows. In that case, you do lose your files. I am very sorry.

Answer 2

I am a home personal user. Cannot! Lose data

Answer 3

A Microsoft 365 upgrade is not identified here as a cause of BitLocker recovery. BitLocker asks for the recovery key when Windows detects a possible unauthorized access attempt, or after certain hardware, firmware, or software changes.

What to do now:

1. On the BitLocker recovery screen, enter the 48-digit recovery key. Hyphens are optional.
2. If the device was ever connected to a work or school account, try retrieving the key from that account:
   • On another device, open https://aka.ms/aadrecoverykey
   • Sign in with the work or school account
   • Select Devices
   • Expand the device
   • Select View BitLocker Keys
   • Match the key ID shown on the locked laptop to the recovery key
3. Check whether the key was saved elsewhere when BitLocker was turned on:
   • a printed copy
   • a USB flash drive
4. If the laptop starts after entering the key, and this started happening after an update, the supported action is to unlock the device with the recovery key. In some known cases, repeated prompts can happen after firmware or update changes.
5. If the device is managed by an organization, contact the organization’s IT support to retrieve the key.

Important: if the recovery key cannot be found, there is no bypass. The remaining option is to reset the device using Windows recovery options, which removes all files.

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References:

• Find your BitLocker recovery key
• BitLocker overview
• Windows devices for home users, businesses, and schools with Microsoft-managed updates