Recovery key

Question

Recovery key

Christina Hair 20

I don't have a recovery key for my laptop. Someone else set it up. Is there something else I can do

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Christina Hair 20 Reputation points

2026-05-31T07:55:23.75+00:00

So this person who set up my Microsoft stole my touch screen laptop and I have no idea what email he used. Nothing. I'm pretty much sol aren't I

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Christina Hair 20 Reputation points

2026-05-31T07:55:23.75+00:00

So this person who set up my Microsoft stole my touch screen laptop and I have no idea what email he used. Nothing. I'm pretty much sol aren't I

Answer 1

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.

(Note, even if your device does not show on the Microsoft account, the Bitlocker Recovery Key may still be available on this link)

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, are you able to contact whoever set up the laptop to ask them to check their account for the correct Bitlocker Recovery key for your laptop, if they used their own Microsoft account for the setup, it may be located there.

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

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, a Windows reset will not work on an encrypted drive, 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.

Christina Hair 20 Reputation points

2026-05-31T07:59:29.6166667+00:00

Thank you. This is what I will do. It's the best way to get going again. I need my laptop. I have save pics and other things from the old accounts that matter. At least I can recover something. Thank you so much! Have a great night.
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