BitLocker Password Recovery: What to Do If You Forget It

Recovering Access to BitLocker Encrypted Disks

If you previously utilized our instructions for securing your removable disks with BitLocker, you may remember saving the recovery key to the cloud – a functionality introduced in Windows 8. The initial step involves retrieving this key, accessible through a specific URL.

Accessing the key requires logging in with the Microsoft account used during the initial Windows 8 setup.

BitLocker Availability

It’s important to remember that BitLocker functionality is limited to the Pro and Enterprise editions of Windows 8.

Given that we are attempting to recover a key used for a removable disk, multiple keys might be listed. To identify the correct one, expand the entry corresponding to the device used for the encryption process.

This expansion is achieved by clicking the arrow positioned next to the device’s name.

Once the appropriate key is located, it must be applied to unlock the encrypted drive. Begin by opening an elevated command prompt.

This can be done by pressing the Windows key to access the Start Screen, then typing “cmd”. From the search results, right-click on “Command Prompt” and select “Run as administrator”.

The following command should then be entered into the command prompt:

repair-bde D: F: -rp 010747-002530-189948-266464-499609-493075-315183-432520 –F

Remember to substitute 'D:' with the drive letter of the encrypted drive and 'F:' with the drive letter of a spare drive designated for data recovery. Important: All data on the destination drive will be erased during this process.

Upon completion of the decryption process, navigate to the recovery drive using File Explorer.

The contents of the previously encrypted drive should now be fully accessible.

Summary

These steps outline the complete process for regaining access to data on a BitLocker encrypted disk when the original access method is unavailable.