unlock drives locked by bitlocker without recovery key

Hi, I'm John! I will help you with this.

Unfortunately, there’s no way to unlock a BitLocker-protected drive without the correct recovery key, this is by design to keep your data secure.

Just to help you double-check, you can look for the key in these places:

• Your Microsoft account: https://account.microsoft.com/devices/recoverykey If you set up or used the device with a work or school account, you can also check here: https://aka.ms/aadrecoverykey
• Any printout or screenshot you may have saved when BitLocker was first set up
• A USB drive where the key might have been saved
• Your work or school IT admin, if the device is managed

A few things to consider:

• If the device was purchased second-hand, gifted, or preconfigured (for example, by a store or organization), the BitLocker key might be stored under the original owner’s Microsoft account.
• If you set it up using a different Microsoft account in the past, try signing in with that account as well.
• During setup, you might have the key saved to a local file or printed copy, instead of the online account. It's worth checking your saved files or printouts.

Unfortunately, if the key isn’t available in any of these places, it can’t be retrieved by anyone, not even Microsoft support. BitLocker is designed to protect your data through encryption, and without the recovery key, it can’t be bypassed.

I really hope this information is helpful! Let me know if you have any further questions or concerns.

Regards,

John J.D.