BitLocker locked me out of my PC after a system update, but the recovery key saved me. I found it on my Microsoft account under the device’s details and used it to unlock each encrypted drive ...

It’s possible that you might have saved said key to your Microsoft account when you set up your BitLocker encryption. If so, you’ll be able to find it at this link .

Microsoft has added new BitLocker encryption guides on its official website. These are meant to explain to users what BitLocker does and how to recover and/or back up the necessary BitLocker keys.

4. Save to a Microsoft Account. If you are logged in to your Windows 11 PC using your Microsoft account, BitLocker can save recovery keys to your Microsoft account in the cloud. By choosing the “Save ...

For domain accounts, the recovery key is stored in Active Directory, but in the common consumer case, using a Microsoft account, it is instead stored in OneDrive.

As noted by Microsoft, the issue is more likely to appear if you have Device Encryption enabled. If you run into the bug, you may be asked to provide the recovery key from your Microsoft account.

And if you anticipate that you'll be traveling to a place where you can't count on ready access to your Microsoft account, save the recovery key as a file on your mobile phone, add it in a secure ...

The Microsoft account and recovery key upload requirements ensure that you can’t accidentally lose access to your PC’s files, and even if you lose your recovery key, you can always access it ...

As a workaround, Microsoft suggests entering these Bitlocker keys. If you remembered to back up the Bitlocker keys beforehand, you can find them in your Microsoft account .

If you haven’t noticed BitLocker on your new computer it may be because, well, you skipped creating a Microsoft account and used a local account. If you did that, BitLocker is not turned on.

BitLocker recovery key saved my PC after an update locked me out. Here’s how I used the recovery key from my Microsoft account to unlock encrypted drives.