How Can I Unlock a BitLocker-Encrypted Drive Without the Recovery Key?

Without the recovery key or password, BitLocker is designed to be very secure and nearly impossible to crack. Even brute forcing a 48-digit recovery key is basically unfeasible. If the key isn’t in your Microsoft account and you don’t remember setting it, it’s possible the encryption was set up by Windows automatically or by someone else. Unfortunately, without that key or password, you might not be able to recover the data at all.

Usually, when you perform a factory reset from Windows itself, it disables BitLocker or clears the encryption keys associated with your device. Since you don’t have a recovery key on your Microsoft account, it’s tricky because that usually helps unlock the drive. If no recovery key is found, the TPM on the original PC might not help because the key is usually tied to the TPM chip of that specific setup and your password or recovery key is required to get access.

Honestly, if you never enabled BitLocker yourself, it might have been turned on automatically by Windows in the background, especially if you had a modern Windows version with device encryption enabled. The recovery key should show up in your Microsoft account under devices, but if it doesn’t, there’s little chance to access it unless you find that key somewhere else. Plugging the drive into the old PC might unlock it if the TPM still holds the key, but since you reset the PC, the keys might have been wiped. Worth a try though!