Question:

How can I access my laptop after a factory reset without a recovery key?

I performed a factory reset on my laptop because I suspected it had some viruses, but I did not know that I would need a recovery key to restore it. I do not have the recovery key and I cannot find it online. Is there any way to bypass the recovery key requirement and use my laptop again? It has been sitting unused for months.

Answer:

If you have performed a factory reset on your laptop, you may have encountered a screen that asks you to enter a recovery key to continue. A recovery key is a 25-digit code that is generated when you set up BitLocker, a feature that encrypts your hard drive to protect your data. If you do not have the recovery key, you will not be able to access your laptop or any of your files.

However, there may be some ways to bypass the recovery key requirement and use your laptop again, depending on your situation. Here are some possible solutions that you can try:

• Check your Microsoft account. If you have signed in to your laptop with a Microsoft account, you may have saved your recovery key to your online account. To check this, go to [https://account.microsoft.com/devices/recoverykey](https://account.microsoft.com/devices/recoverykey) and sign in with your Microsoft account. If you see your laptop listed, you can view and copy the recovery key from there. Then, enter the recovery key on your laptop and follow the instructions to restore your system.
• Check your email. If you have not signed in to your laptop with a Microsoft account, but you have enabled BitLocker yourself, you may have received an email with your recovery key when you set it up. Check your email inbox and search for “BitLocker” or “recovery key”. If you find the email, you can use the recovery key from there to unlock your laptop.
• Check your USB drive. If you have not signed in to your laptop with a Microsoft account, and you have not enabled BitLocker yourself, it is possible that BitLocker was turned on automatically by your laptop manufacturer or your organization. In this case, you may have been prompted to save your recovery key to a USB drive when you first set up your laptop. If you have the USB drive, you can plug it into your laptop and it should automatically detect and use the recovery key from there.
• Reset your laptop again. If none of the above solutions work for you, and you do not have any important data on your laptop that you need to recover, you can try to reset your laptop again and wipe out everything. This will erase your hard drive and remove the BitLocker encryption, allowing you to set up your laptop as a new device. To do this, you will need a Windows installation media, such as a DVD or a USB drive, that matches the version of Windows on your laptop. You can create one using another computer by following the instructions [here](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/create-installation-media-for-windows-99a58364-8c02-206f-aa6f-40c3b507420d). Once you have the installation media, you can insert it into your laptop and boot from it. Then, follow the steps to install Windows and choose the option to remove everything.

We

hope that this article has helped you to access your laptop after a factory reset without a recovery key. If you have any questions or feedback, please let us know in the comments below. Thank you for reading!