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The Data Recovery Expert

How to Recover BitLocker Password

Recover Bitlocker Password

BitLocker Drive Encryption is a data security technology that comes paired with the Windows operating system and uses a password. It aims to prevent data theft or exposure caused by lost, stolen, or decommissioned computers. If your computer is susceptible to theft or even already stolen, the thief could access your personal information. Its security features help protect your information from being accessed by unauthorized people. However, you may forget the password to BitLocker, and lose access if you can’t recover it.

Additionally, if you lose your computer but have access to BitLocker, you can still view your data. This form of security can also help prevent data breaches in many conditions. However, as mentioned, problems sprout when you lose your password and end up on the wrong side. With every important file locked up and encrypted, the situation may be depressing. Thankfully, there are several ways to recover the BitLocker password to help you access your data.

1. Recover BitLocker Password via Built-in Methods

In case you can’t access your BitLocker drive, you may have to go through Microsoft’s BitLocker recovery manual. Since it contains far too much information, we’ll surmise the three key ways of restoration:

  1. Type the 48-digit recovery password
  2. The password from active domain directory services may also be retrieved by the domain administrator
  3. Contact a data recovery professional to unlock the drive

It also mentions two ways to brute force recovery of a drive:

  1. Recover the BitLocker password on a local machine:
    1. Press the Windows + R keys and type “cmd” in the Search box.
    2. Right-click cmd.exe, and select “Run as administrator.”
    3. Now, type the command “manage-bde -forcerecovery <Volume>” and then press Enter.
  2. Force recovery on a remote computer:
    1. Go to the Start menu, type “cmd.exe”, and choose Run as administrator.
    2. Type “manage-bde -ComputerName <ComputerName> -forcerecovery <Volume>” in the Command Prompt and press the Enter button.

2. Reset Recovery Passwords using the Manage-BDE Command

Another technique uses a “manage-bde command” to delete and assign new recovery passwords. You will still need to unlock the BitLocker container. Go through these steps:

  1. Remove the previous recovery password using the command: “manage-bde -protectors -delete <Volume> -type RecoveryPassword”
  2. Add new recovery password using command: “manage-bde -protectors –add <Volume> -RecoveryPassword”
  3. Copy the ID of the new recovery password via this command: “manage-bde -protectors -get <Volume> -Type RecoveryPassword”
  4. Now create a backup of the new recovery password to Active Directory Domain Services: “manage-bde -protectors -adbackup <Volume> -id <{EXAMPLE-6627-4544-999E-AFB3EB254630}>”

3. Employ the BitLocker Repair Tool

For damaged drives protected with BitLocker, Microsoft has released a BitLocker Repair Tool that may be used to repair the metadata and other information of the drive. The company provided the syntax, variables, and examples you can look at. This approach should be tried if the previous BitLocker recovery process fails to address the problem. You should try other methods again after the repair does its magic.

4. Try Data Recovery Software that Specializes in BitLocker (Alternative)

There are data recovery tools on the market that may be used to recover data from encrypted BitLocker containers. Disk Drill 4 for Windows and later versions are an example, though we aren’t affiliated. This software may unlock files in BitLocker containers and assist in the recovery of data from an encrypted drive. It’s undoubtedly more cost-effective than the one below. While it won’t get your password back, it may restore some or all encrypted data, which is the point of accessing BitLocker anyway.

5. Use a Data Recovery Service (Pricier Alternative)

In the most difficult situations, such as a corrupted computer or getting a stolen hard drive back, you may need to take your storage drive out and send it to a data rescue facility. This requires you to hire the service and purchase a replacement disk drive. The technique works best if your BitLocker password is not forgotten, but the storage device is unresponsive. However, they may employ decryption algorithms to extract data as well, bypassing the need for a password.

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