I have forgotten the bitlocker password for my USB pen drive, what can I do? (2024)

FAQs

How do I unlock my BitLocker USB if I forgot my password? ›

If you set up your device and turn on BitLocker yourself, your recovery key will be in your Microsoft account. Open a web browser on any other device, and type the following URL into the address bar: https://account.microsoft.com/devices/recoverykey. You'll find your BitLocker recovery key there.

Unlocking BitLocker without your password and recovery key can be very challenging. If you forget your password, you can use your recovery key to unlock your BitLocker drive. If you can't remember the password and don't have access to the recovery key, the only remaining solution is to simply format the entire drive.

If you are unable to locate a required BitLocker recovery key and are unable to revert a configuration change that might have caused it to be required, you must reset your device using one of the Windows 10 recovery options.

Double-click the BitLocker Recovery Key file to open it in NotePad. Copy the Recovery Key code then return to the BitLocker wizard. Paste the text you copied into the text box and click Unlock. You will now have access to your drive.

Navigate to Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Startup Settings 2. Press Restart 3. Skip the first Bitlocker recovery key prompt by pressing Esc 4. Skip the second Bitlocker recovery key prompt by selecting Skip This Drive in the bottom right 5.

Click "Manage Devices" under "Devices" on the My Account screen. Select a device from the list of devices and click "∨". The 48-digit number under the password is the BitLocker recovery key, so write it down in a memo or save it in another way.

How do I find my BitLocker recovery key as administrator? ›

To recover BitLocker, a user can use a recovery password, if available. The BitLocker recovery password is unique to the device it was created on, and can be saved in different ways. Depending on the configured policy settings, the recovery password can be: Saved in Microsoft Entra ID, for Microsoft Entra joined.

If the status is returned as locked, you must use the following command to unlock it using your recovery password: manage-bde -unlock c: -rp your 48-digit recovery password.

If your system is asking you for your BitLocker recovery key, there are several places that your recovery key may be located, depending on the choice that was made when activating BitLocker. If you saved the key to your Microsoft account, you can access it by going to https://account.microsoft.com/devices/recoverykey.

Click "Manage Devices" under "Devices" on the My Account screen. Select a device from the list of devices and click "∨". The 48-digit number under the password is the BitLocker recovery key, so write it down in a memo or save it in another way.