BitLocker Recovery key not found

Anonymous
2019-11-26T09:43:01+00:00

Hi all,

I have a Dell XPS 13 9360 running Windows 10.1 Home. Here's what happened:

  • I was using Spotify one day and my computer started hanging. So I restarted the computer via the Start menu.
  • The computer went into automatic repair and then automatic repair failed. I disabled automatic repair using bcdedit and rebooted.
  • Then the computer went into Windows recovery. When I was exploring the different options on recovery, I noticed that some of them requested for the Bitlocker recovery key before I could proceed.
  • This was the first time I knew of BitLocker’s existence, so I definitely did not activate BitLocker manually. I’m not sure how my internal SSD contents got encrypted on their own.
  • I tried solutions like secure boot in BIOS, resetting BIOS settings to their defaults, all with no luck. At one point I also re-enabled Automatic repair.
  • Now, when the affected computer is booted up, I am brought to the BitLocker recovery screen.

Based on my reading and conversations with Microsoft Tech Support, when a Windows 10 Home computer is purchased, and the user signs in to a Microsoft account on first startup, BitLocker is setup automatically. 

So I went to that same Microsoft account that I used to setup the affected computer.

Sure enough, my device was listed there:

It even told me BitLocker was ON when I clicked “Manage”.

However when I clicked “Manage recovery key” and I got past the 2 factor authentication, I got this…

? It seems that no recovery key is associated with my account. But how is that possible given that this was the correct account that was used to setup the device, the device is listed in the account, and it even tells me BitLocker ON?

Regarding the other possibilities where BitLocker recovery keys may be found:

  1. The hyperlinks https://onedrive.live.com/recoverykey, aka.ms/recoverykey also don't work.
  2. This is a home computer, so the recovery key cannot be on Azure Active Directory services.
  3. Since BitLocker was activated by itself, there’s also no way the recovery key could be on a printout.
  4. I’ve already checked all my USB drives and no recovery key was present.

The data in my computer is valuable so I can't afford to format the disk.

Could someone help? Thanks.

Moved from: Outlook.com / Security, privacy, accounts / Other

***Original Title: BitLocker locked my drive by itself after failed automatic repair and recovery key is missing***

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Performance and system failures

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous
2020-08-04T18:20:05+00:00

Hey everyone, this has been a total nightmare, but hopefully this will help.

Le issue: new Lenovo laptop, setup yesterday, today it doesn't like the password. No idea why. Tried password reset, security questions prompted were not the ones used during setup. MS account does not exist. ****. Went through BIOS and tried changing things, no avail. Tried full factory reset and was prompted for BitLocker (aka current-bane-o-my-existence) Recovery Key.

How does one find that?

* Definitely not by calling Lenovo support, they said I bricked the computer and can ship it to them or take it back ot the store I bought it from and ask for a replacement.

* Definitely not by going through the recommended processes on their support page, none of that worked, and it said I bricked my computer and need to send it to them.

* Not by https://account.microsoft.com/devices/

* Not by onedrive.account whatever

* Not by https://account.microsoft.com/devices/recoverykey

50 Chrome tabs later I'm reading this posted help request. Somebody said go to Azure (shrugwhy not). Log into Azure, don't have Azure, but still get in by giving Microsoft ID, pwd etc. At Azure landing page, at the top right I see my ID, so I click on it. It takes me to https://myaccount.microsoft.com/ which is a landing page I've yet to see. On the left hand bar I see devices, third option down. Click on that, AND THERE IS THE EFFING COMPUTER!!!!! I click "View BitLocker keys" and it shows the BitLocker ID of the "bricked" computer, I click "Show Recovery Key" and thar she blows. On the "bricked" laptop I type this in and bingo, we are doing a full reset. I'm doing a full full reset because it's brand new, and I definitely want to make sure that I'm not carrying over a user id and password. Hope this helps.

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-01-04T01:11:31+00:00

    Hi clarethebear, could I check if you managed to resolve this issue while keeping your data? I just had the same issue with my XPS 9570, which only occurred after a change of motherboard during repairs. I too am using Windows Home, and am also suffering from an encrypted hard drive without ever being given a key.

    Thanks!

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  2. Anonymous
    2019-12-01T10:56:24+00:00

    Hi Aditya,

    Sorry for the late response. I have only been able to access the affected computer today.

    When I went to the Secure Boot menu in BIOS, I realized it had already been disabled. This was probably the result of my experimentation with the computer prior to asking for help on this forum.

    Upon re-enabling Secure Boot, the computer displays the Dell splash screen, and then it gets stuck at this loading interface:

    The wheel just keeps on spinning...

    If I disable Secure Boot again, I get to the blue screen that asks me to input the BitLocker recovery key.

    Thanks.

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  3. Anonymous
    2019-11-27T07:08:15+00:00

    Hi,

    Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.

    We understand your concern as you are unable to get the BitLocker recovery key to unlock your PC from BitLocker encryption. We appreciate your effort in troubleshooting the issue and providing us a detailed information with screenshot.

    We checked this for you and ideally, in Windows 10 Home BitLocker doesn’t come by default. It could be possible that the BitLocker got enabled during some updates, either Windows update or PC manufacturer update.

    We were researching on this and the recovery key will be saved either on Microsoft account or in OneDrive location. Upon checking the screenshots and the details that you have provided, it’s really strange that the recovery key is not showing up in the Microsoft account even it shows ON.

    Meanwhile, we would suggest you to disable the secure boot from the BIOS and check if you are able to bypass the BitLocker. Please refer the steps in this article: Disabling Secure Boot

    Let us know how it goes, we are also investigating this issue on our end.

    Aditya Roy

    Microsoft Community – Moderator

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