If you don’t know your BitLocker key but you have your BitLocker recovery key, you can use that recovery key to unlock your drive. The BitLocker recovery key is a 32-digit number stored in your computer. Here’s how to find your recovery key..
BitLocker is a device encryption feature of Windows.
- Places to look for your BitLocker recovery key
- On a printout you saved: Look in places you keep important papers.
- On a USB flash drive: Plug the USB flash drive in to your locked PC and follow the instructions. If you saved the key as a text file on the flash drive, use a different computer to read the text file.
- In your Microsoft account: Sign in on another computer or phone to see Bitlocker recovery keys.
- In your Azure Active Directory account: For work PCs where you sign in with an Azure Active Directory account, to get your recovery key, see the device info for your Microsoft Azure account.
- Or ask someone for help
- Ask someone with administrator privileges on the same PC to unlock it with their key.
- If your PC is connected to a domain (usually a work or school computer), ask a system administrator for your recovery key.
- Note: If you still can’t get in, you’ll need to reset your PC. For more info see Learn how.
- Once you’ve found it, here’s how you can keep it
- In the search box on the taskbar, type BitLocker, select Manage BitLocker from the list of results, select Back up your recovery key, and follow the prompts for your preferred backup method.