How to Recover Data If You Lose or Forget Your BitLocker Password?

On my old computer, there was a data partition on the main disk that was encrypted with BitLocker. Since I haven't used this computer for a long time, I've forgotten the password. I've tried many possible ways to recover it, but none have worked. My question is: how can I recover lost data after forgetting a BitLocker password?

We need to remember a variety of different types of passwords, such as bank card passwords, email passwords, computer user passwords and disk encryption passwords (BitLocker password), etc., and for security reasons, we have to regularly modify the various passwords, which cause us to often forget passwords. If one day we lose or forgot the BitLocker password for a BitLocker encrypted drive, you can try the following solution to access your lost data.

 

Solution 1: Unlock a BitLocker-Encrypted Drive with the 48-Digit BitLocker Recovery Key

If you have saved your BitLocker recovery key, you can use it to unlock the encrypted drive. Once unlocked, right-click the drive in File Explorer, select "Change BitLocker Password" from the context menu, and set a new password in the pop-up window.

If you cannot find the BitLocker recovery key, please refer to: What is BitLocker recovery key and how to find BitLocker recovery key?

 

Solution 2: Retrieve BitLocker Recovery Password with BitLocker Recovery Password Viewer.

To make it easier for users to locate and view BitLocker recovery passwords that are stored in AD DS, Microsoft offers BitLocker Recovery Password Viewer. Please follow the steps below to find your BitLocker Recovery Password.

1. Download and install BitLocker Recovery Password Viewer.
2. In Active Directory Users and Computers, right-click the domain container, and then click Find BitLocker Recovery Password.
3. In the Find BitLocker Recovery Password dialog box, type the first eight characters of the recovery password in the Password ID (first 8 characters) box, and then click Search.

 

Solution 3: Retrieve Bitlocker Password with Bitlocker Brute-Force Cracking Tool

If you've lost both your BitLocker password and BitLocker recovery key, the only option to retrieve your BitLocker password is to use a BitLocker brute-force cracking tool listed below.

1. Passware Kit Business: Passware Kit Business is a complete password recovery solution that can help you recover all kinds of lost passwords, including BitLocker, TrueCrypt, FileVault2, VeraCrypt, and PGP hard disks, MS Office 2016 documents, and provides an all-in-one user interface.
2. Elcomsoft Forensic Disk Decryptor: Elcomsoft Forensic Disk Decryptor offers all available methods for gaining access to information stored in encrypted BitLocker, FileVault 2, PGP and TrueCrypt disks and volumes. The toolkit allows using the volume's plain-text password, escrow or recovery keys, as well as the binary keys extracted from the computer's memory image or hibernation file. FileVault 2 recovery keys can beextracted from iCloud with Elcomsoft Phone Breaker, while BitLocker recovery keys are available in Active Directory or in the user's Microsoft Account.
3. Thegrideon BitLocker Password Recovery: BitLocker Password by Thegrideon Software is an advanced password recovery tool for BitLocker encrypted volumes and BitLocker to Go protected devices (such as internal and external hard drives and USB flash drives).

 

Solution 4: Recover Lost Data After Losing or Forgetting Your BitLocker Password with Hasleo Data Recovery

If you can successfully find the BitLocker password or BitLocker recovery key using the above solutions, but still find that you have lost some files, you can recover data from the BitLocker drive with Hasleo Data Recovery.

Step 1: Choose BitLocker Data Recovery

Download, install, and run Hasleo Data Recovery. On the main interface, you'll see several recovery options. Please select BitLocker Data Recovery mode to proceed.

Step 2: Select the drive to Scan

1. Please select the drive where you lost files, then click "Scan" to find all BitLocker-encrypted partitions on the device.

2. A pop-up window will appear asking you to enter the BitLocker password or 48-digit BitLocker recovery key. If you don't want to enter the password or BitLocker recovery key here, just click the "Skip" button to skip it.

3. Hasleo Data Recovery will display all detected BitLocker-encrypted partitions on the target device. If you provided the password or BitLocker recovery key in the previous step, the password status will show whether they match the partition.

4. Double-click the BitLocker-encrypted partition you want to recover data from. If you have previously entered a valid password or BitLocker recovery key, Hasleo Data Recovery will begin scanning for lost files. Otherwise, a prompt will appear asking you to enter the password or BitLocker recovery key. After entering the correct credentials, click "OK" to start the scan.

Step 3: Preview and Recover Deleted Files

When the scanning process completes, you can filter and preview found files by path or file type. Once you've located the files you need, simply select them and click the "Recover" button to save them to your hard drive or another storage device. If some files are not found, click the "Deep Scan" button to initiate the Deep Scan Recovery process. While a deep scan takes more time, it can recover significantly more lost files.

 

Important Notes:

1. You must enter the correct Bitlocker password or the 48-digit Bitlocker recovery key to successfully recover data from a BitLocker-encrypted drive.
2. If the metadata area of a BitLocker-encrypted drive is severely corrupted, data recovery from that partition may fail—even with the correct password or recovery key.
3. Do not save recovered files to the original partition where the lost data was stored. This prevents the data from being overwritten.
4. You can export or save the scan results for later use or future recovery sessions.