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How to Recover BitLocker Drive without Password

BitLocker is one of the strongest encryption software out there. When you encrypt a drive with it, you need the password to decrypt the drive and access your data. However, what if you lose or forget the BitLocker password? Well, in those cases, you can use the BitLocker recovery key to unlock the drive and get access to your data. Thankfully, whether it’s a regular internal or an operating system drive, BitLocker drive recovery is a fairly simple task as long as you have the recovery key.

Microsoft forces you to save the recovery key in one of these ways:

  1. Printing it
  2. Saving it to a file
  3. Storing it in your Microsoft account

So, you should already have access to the recovery key. In this tutorial, I’ll show you the steps to recover a BitLocker encrypted drive without a password using the recovery key. You’ll learn how to unlock your encrypted drive and get back access to your important files. Let’s get started.

Before You Start

  • Make sure you have the recovery key ready. Follow this guide to find your BitLocker recovery key. You need this recovery key to unlock a BitLocker encrypted drive without the password. If you don’t have a recovery key, you cannot unlock the drive.

Recovering a BitLocker Encrypted Internal Drive

Follow these steps to unlock your BitLocker encrypted internal drive (such as D, E, or F drives, but not the OS drive):

  1. First, copy the BitLocker recovery key from the recovery file or your Microsoft account.
  2. Next, open the File Explorer by pressing Windows key + E.
  3. Double-click on the BitLocker encrypted drive.
  4. Click the “More Options” link.
  5. When prompted, click “Enter recovery key.”
  6. Paste the BitLocker recovery key and click “Unlock.”
  7. With that, you’ve unlocked the BitLocker drive without a password.

Detailed Steps (With Screenshots)

First, copy the recovery key by pressing the Ctrl + C shortcut. You can get it from the recovery file or your Microsoft account depending on how you backed it up. For example, I backed up my BitLocker recovery key to the recovery file, so I opened it using File Explorer and copied the key. For detailed steps, follow this guide on finding the BitLocker recovery key.

Recover-bitlocker-drive-without-password-recovery-key — copy recovery key

Once you have the recovery key, open the File Explorer (you can press the Windows key + E shortcut) and click “This PC” on the left sidebar. Next, double-click on the BitLocker drive that you want to unlock. In my case, that’s my “I” drive.

The above action will open the BitLocker password prompt. Here, click the “More Options” link and then click the “Enter recovery key” option.

click enter recovery key option

In the blank field, press the Ctrl + V keyboard shortcut to paste the recovery key. If you printed the recovery key, manually type it. After that, click the “Unlock” button.

type recovery key and click unlock

If the recovery key is correct, the BitLocker drive will be instantly unlocked.

BitLocker drive unlocked with recovery key

After unlocking, don’t forget to reset or change the BitLocker password.

Recovering a BitLocker Encrypted OS Drive

Follow these steps to unlock your BitLocker encrypted operating system drive (typically your C drive):

  1. First, copy the BitLocker recovery key from the recovery file or your Microsoft account.
  2. Restart your computer.
  3. When prompted, type the BitLocker recovery key in the blank field.
  4. Press Enter to continue.
  5. If the recovery key is correct, your BitLocker drive will be unlocked. If incorrect, you’ll be prompted to try again.
  6. The system boots normally and you can log into your user account.
  7. (Optional) After logging in, disable BitLocker to avoid further lock-ups.
BitLocker OS drive recovery

Reset BitLocker Password

After decrypting the BitLocker drive without a password, resetting or changing the password can help you prevent future lock-ups. Here’s how to do it.

  1. Open the Start menu.
  2. Search and open the Control Panel.
  3. Select “Large icons” from the “View by” dropdown menu in the top-right corner.
  4. Click on “BitLocker Drive Encryption.”
  5. Click the “Change Password” option next to the drive of your choice.
  6. Select the “Reset a Forgotten Password” option.
  7. Type the new password in the two fields.
  8. Click “Finish.”
  9. Click “OK.”
  10. With that, you’ve changed the BitLocker password.

Detailed Steps (With Screenshots)

Open the Control Panel by searching it for in the start menu. In the Control Panel window, set the “View By” to “Large icons” or “Small icons“. Next, find and click the “BitLocker Drive Encryption” option.

Recover-bitlocker-drive-without-password — click BitLocker drive encryption in Control Panel

Here, find the drive and click on the little arrow icon appearing at the top right corner to see more options. Click the “Change Password” link.

Note: If you simply want to remove the BitLocker password, click the “Remove Password” link instead.

Recover-bitlocker-drive-without-password — click change password

In the Change Password window, click the “Reset a forgotten password” link.

Recover-bitlocker-drive-without-password — select reset a forgotten password option

Now, type your new password in the two blank fields and click the “Finish” button.

Recover-bitlocker-drive-without-password — type new password and click finish

That is all. You’ve successfully reset the BitLocker password. Click “OK” to close the confirmation dialog.

Recover-bitlocker-drive-without-password — BitLocker password reset successful click ok

Wrapping Up – Recover BitLocker Drive without Password

As you can see, as long as you have the recovery key, it is very easy to unlock the BitLocker drive without a password. The good thing is that even after you reset the password, the recovery key is still valid. So, you don’t have to create a new BitLocker recovery key. Just keep the one you already have safe and secure.

If you have any questions or need help, comment below. I’ll be happy to assist.

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