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How to decrypt Bitlocker-encrypted hard disk partition?

Hi,

I have a Dell Vostro 14 3000 laptop with pre-installed Windows 11 Home, with a 1 TB hard disk drive and 8 GB RAM. I created 2 partitions on my hard disk - "C:" for OS and "D:" for files storage.

Recently I installed a 256 GB SSD hard disk and installed OS on it, planning to keep the entire 1 TB hard disk for files storage. I backed up all my data on the "D:" drive and went ahead with the installation.

However, I found that my "D:" drive is now Bitlocker encrypted and all my data is now totally inaccessible. I went to my Microsoft account and found Bitlocker recovery keys, but there is no provision of managing Bitlocker in Windows 11 Home edition. I tried 3rd party data recovery software but I got a huge dump of files without proper file names and directories.

How do I access my "D:" drive and my files that are on it?

~ Exasperated User

Hi, Dinesh. I'm Robinson, and I’m happy to help you today.

You try to use these commands in the Command Prompt to unlock your drive.

1-Click on Start, search for Command Prompt, right-click on that, and click on "Run as Administrator"
2-Type this command to unlock the drive and press Enter:
manage-bde -unlock D: -RecoveryPassword YOUR-BITLOCKER-RECOVERY-KEY
3-Then run this command to disable the BitLocker
manage-bde -off D:
4-When finished, the drive should be unlocked and Bitlocker disabled

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Hi, Dinesh. I'm Robinson, and I’m happy to help you today.

You try to use these commands in the Command Prompt to unlock your drive.

1-Click on Start, search for Command Prompt, right-click on that, and click on "Run as Administrator"
2-Type this command to unlock the drive and press Enter:
manage-bde -unlock D: -RecoveryPassword YOUR-BITLOCKER-RECOVERY-KEY
3-Then run this command to disable the BitLocker
manage-bde -off D:
4-When finished, the drive should be unlocked and Bitlocker disabled

Thank you so much Robinson for your help,

I ran the command in Sl.No.2 above and received an ERROR message: "The drive is already unlocked"

And when I ran the command in Sl.No.3 I received an ERROR message: "The device is not ready"

What do these mean and what do I do now?

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Last updated January 26, 2025 Views 39,306 Applies to: