So my sister is stuck on her Dell Inspiron laptop because it's locked by BitLocker. She tried to retrieve the key via her Microsoft Account, but it seems like there's no device linked to her account. She's not really tech-savvy and she bought the laptop quite a while ago, so she's unsure who enabled BitLocker or where the recovery keys could be. She has important files on the laptop, and I'm clueless about BitLocker myself. What should we do next? Should we reach out to Microsoft or maybe Dell? What steps can we take in this situation?
3 Answers
BitLocker can sometimes come pre-enabled by manufacturers. If your sister didn’t set it up and the key isn’t in her Microsoft account, there really isn’t much that can be done. This might be a tough lesson about backups. If you don’t have the key, nobody can assist with unlocking it. The best option would be to reinstall Windows via a USB stick and start fresh.
Unfortunately, without the recovery key, there's really no way to unlock that drive — it's a security measure to protect sensitive data. Neither Microsoft nor Dell can bypass BitLocker due to encryption laws, so you’re kind of stuck there. If the key can’t be found, it’s likely that the data is gone, and you’ll have to wipe the laptop and reinstall Windows. You should definitely check all of her email accounts; a Microsoft account doesn’t have to be a Microsoft email address.
Can you actually log into the system at all? That might change things a bit depending on what you can access.
She doesn’t use a Microsoft email, and when she logged into the recovery page with her account, nothing came up. It’s frustrating because we can’t even figure out who set up BitLocker in the first place. If it was the manufacturer, I was hoping they might have a way to help, but it feels pretty hopeless right now.