D drive locked with bitlocker after windows recovery from factory

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D drive locked with bitlocker after windows recovery from factory

Đỗ Tuấn Anh_CN&QTTH 25

Hello,

I restored Windows from the factory (windows 10), after installing, I found my D drive was automatically locked by bitlocker. This is a Dell laptop that has been used for 5 years, I also do not remember if I installed a microsoft account on the computer before or do not remember which account it is.

I have used the command to display the bitlocker password for D drive, but there is no password, only the backup type is AAD.

Please help me, there is a lot of important data on that drive!!!

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Answer 1

Alex Burlachenko 4,875

Hi,

It sounds like your D drive was encrypted with BitLocker and the recovery key is stored in your Microsoft account (Azure Active Directory/AAD).

Check your Microsoft account for the recovery key

Go to Microsoft's BitLocker recovery key page
Sign in with any Microsoft accounts you might have used
Look for a recovery key associated with your Dell laptop

Alternative ways to find your recovery key

Check your email for messages from Microsoft containing "BitLocker recovery key"
Look for a printed or saved text file with the recovery key (sometimes saved to USB drive or printed during initial encryption)

If you find the recovery key

Open Command Prompt as Administrator
Type: manage-bde -unlock D: -RecoveryPassword YOUR_RECOVERY_KEY
Replace "YOUR_RECOVERY_KEY" with the 48-digit recovery key

If you can't find the recovery key try signing in with any other Microsoft accounts you might have used. Contact Dell support as they might have additional recovery options.

And pls dont

format or initialize the drive - this will permanently lose your data
attempt brute force methods - BitLocker is designed to prevent this

The recovery key is your only hope if you didn't save the password anywhere

If you absolutely can't recover the key through Microsoft account, your last resort would be professional data recovery services, though they can be expensive.

Best regards,

Alex

P.S. If my answer help to you, please Accept my answer

Đỗ Tuấn Anh_CN&QTTH 25 Reputation points

2025-03-27T09:15:26.6933333+00:00

Thanks a lot Alex,

I also tried searching in many accounts that I remember but no results are correct. I am thinking that during the previous setup of the machine, the machine did not have a Microsoft account installed.

Do you have any suggestions for my problem?
Alex Burlachenko 4,875 Reputation points

2025-03-27T09:32:02.3933333+00:00

Dear Đỗ Tuấn Anh_CN&QTTH,

this is a rather sensitive matter… I give you an example, in our case the corp I work for we use Entra (Azure AD), meaning we actually retain it within Active Directory, ensuring we always have access to that 48-bit recovery key when needed.

My advice, therefore, would be if it’s not stored in AD and is instead a standalone system, keep the key in a secure location preferably the same one where critical backups are held and also print a hard copy to be stored separately (somewhere only you or authorised personnel can access).

Another scenario that sometimes arises is when a device (e.g., a laptop) is joined to AD, and the user eventually leaves the company. At that point, you’d typically rebuild the machine, rename it, and reassign it to a new user. In our practice, we don’t immediately delete the device account from AD instead, we disable it for a period (say, 3–4 months) as a precaution. Additionally, we retain the user’s SSD for a while, allowing Tier 1 support the opportunity to recover data if necessary.

You know how these things work it’s all about establishing protocols, refining them after a few iterations, and adhering to them consistently… much like a Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP).

Best regards,

Alex
Đỗ Tuấn Anh_CN&QTTH 25 Reputation points

2025-03-27T11:12:45.0533333+00:00

This is a very bad problem, I can't open D drive, there is no solution, it contains a lot of my important data.

I just want to cry

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D drive locked with bitlocker after windows recovery from factory

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