Hey everyone! I recently helped a friend by connecting their SSD to my computer to check a few things. After that, I put my own SSD back into the system, but now my SSD is locked by BitLocker. Unfortunately, I can't find the recovery key and it doesn't seem to be in my Microsoft account. This SSD isn't the boot drive; it was just used for my Steam library. Is there anything I can do to unlock it? If all else fails, can I just wipe it clean?
5 Answers
You could try plugging it back into the original PC and disabling BitLocker from there. If that doesn't work, then data recovery is probably off the table.
Don't listen to the others! You can actually recover the key if you go to https://aka.ms/myrecoverykey and log in with the same Microsoft account tied to that PC. There's a good chance you might find the recovery key there without having to format the drive.
Honestly, without the key, you won't be able to access the data. It's pretty much a wipe or nothing situation. You might have to nuke the drive.
Make sure to check everywhere for the BitLocker key. There are several places you might find it, like your Microsoft account or any saved printouts. If you still can’t locate the key, your only real option is to reformat the drive. Just keep in mind that you’ll lose everything on it, but at least it was just games, so those can be reinstalled.
Yeah, just wipe it. There's really no other way to go about it unless you somehow track down the key.
Related Questions
Lenovo Thinkpad Stuck In Update Loop Install FilterDriverU2_Reload