Reinstall Windows on laptop that has been locked with BitLocker and I have no recovery key

Hi Kathy. I'm Greg, 10 years awarded Windows MVP, specializing in Installation, Performance, Troubleshooting and Activaiton, here to help you.

What's missing is you need to boot into the WIndows installation media (created as shown in steps below) from second screen choose Repair Your Computer > Advanced Troubleshooting Options > Command Prompt to wipe the drive with Clean Command to remove Bitlocker. Then do a gold standard Clean Install by simply selecting the Unallocated Space and choose Next to autoformat the needed partitions and begin install Steps are below, but first I'll give you everything else to try to save your files, and explain what probably happened since you have Dell:

If Bitlocker is enabled on your hard drive this may have been done at the factory, which Dell Support should tell you and provide what you need to know. Here is Dell's explanation of doing this:
https://www.dell.com/community/XPS/XPS-13-9360-...
https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000124...

If done since then it should always store the Recovery key that unlocks it in your MS Account.

See here how to find the Recovery key for Bitlocker:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/402618...

Try removing or turning off Bitlocker by one of these methods:
https://www.repairwin.com/how-to-remove-bitlock...
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/37060-turn-...
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/36701-turn-...

Manual for managing Bitlocker:
https://www.windowscentral.com/how-use-bitlocke...

If you cannot find the key or turn off Bitlocker then you'll need to try to recover your data by one of the methods shown here:
https://www.howtogeek.com/263561/how-to-recover...
http://woshub.com/data-recovery-on-a-damaged-ha...

A few have tried this method successfully to Rescue files using bootable media so WIndows isn't running and has no say:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wiki...

If nothing else works then wipe the drive to reinstall WIndows as shown here:
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/85819-erase...
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wiki...

Due to number of similar cases with files lost I would not use Bitlocker. Instead I would periodically drag my User folders to external USB which I keep unplugged to protect against ransomware. Then I would also have a secondary method using the cloud which is fire, hacker and theft proof:
You can drag 5gb for free into OneDrive app to store in the cloud where they are safe from fire and theft, or backup your Documents, Pictures and/or Desktop to capture real time changes using OneDrive Backup.
If you install Google Drive, you can use their new Backup to choose User folders (Documents, Pictures, etc.) to sync up to 15g for free to their cloud.

If you want to report this to Microsoft use the Feedback Hub app in Start Menu where developers are tasked to process consumer feedback. They will not even see it here. This is a tech forums staffed mostly by volunteers trying to help others with your problems.

If you want to post back a Share link from your Feedback here others who see this thread can vote it up and add to it.

I hope this helps. Feel free to ask back any questions and keep me posted. I will keep working with you until it's resolved.

______________________________________________
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Hi Greg,

Thank you for helping! I don't use BitLocker, I didn't even know it was on the computer, so I do not need to worry about any data recovery. I just need to wipe the disk and reinstall Windows so that I can use my laptop again.

The problem I am having is in installing Windows again. I already did the command prompt to clean the disk and it showed it as unallocated, but when I try to install Windows to that unallocated drive on set up, it says there isn't enough space?

Hi Greg,

I'm not sure what I did last night in all my configuring, but when I turned it on this morning, Windows was installed!

Thanks!

I'm really glad to hear this, Kathy. How is performance so far?

Let me know if there's anything else. I'll stay subscribed to this thread in case you need anything else, until the system locks it in a few months.

Also when ready please mark the post which helped most as the Answer (or Resolved), to help others who find this thread. A rating is also appreciated.