How to find your BitLocker recovery key
Where Windows hides your BitLocker recovery key, how to get the 48-digit code out of your Microsoft account in two minutes, and how to send it to us so we can recover your data.
Last updated 2026-06-20 · 4 minute read · Applies to: Windows laptop, Desktop PC
If your Windows PC is asking for a BitLocker recovery key, that 48-digit number is the one thing standing between you and your files, and it's almost certainly saved in your Microsoft account. Modern Windows machines quietly encrypt themselves and back the key up online the first time you sign in, so most people have a key they've never seen. Here's how to find it, match it to the right drive, and get it to us so we can recover your data. (It isn't the same as your login password, more on that below.)
1. Grab a phone or another computer
You can't reach the key from the locked PC itself, so use any other device with internet: a phone, a tablet, or a second computer. Everything below happens in a normal web browser.
2. Open your Microsoft account's recovery key page
Go to account.microsoft.com/devices/recoverykey and sign in with the same Microsoft account the PC uses, the Outlook, Hotmail or Live address you log into Windows with. If you have more than one Microsoft account, the key may be saved under a different one, so try each.
3. Match the Key ID to the right drive
The blue BitLocker recovery screen on your PC shows a Key ID (a short string of letters and numbers). The website lists a Key ID next to each saved key. If only one PC is on the account there's usually just one key, but if several are listed, match the Key IDs so you copy the right one. The wrong key simply won't be accepted.
4. Copy the full 48-digit key
The recovery key is 48 digits, in eight groups of six (123456-123456 and so on). Write down or copy every digit. This is not your PIN or password; it's a long one-time number Windows generated when it encrypted the drive, so there's nothing to 'remember', only to find.
5. No key showing? Check where else it hides
If the page is empty: you may be signed into the wrong Microsoft account (try your others), the PC may use a local account with no key online at all, or the key may have been printed out or saved to a USB stick or text file when encryption was first switched on. Work and school laptops are a separate case, see the note below.
6. Send the key to us
Once you have it, send the full 48-digit key with your name or job reference: through our enquiry form, by email to hello@geekly.com.au, or read it to us over the phone on 0421 206 766. On its own the key can't open anything without your physical drive in our hands, so it's safe to send to us, just don't post it anywhere public.
Warning: If the PC belongs to an employer, school or any organisation that manages it, the recovery key lives in their Microsoft system, not your personal account, and account.microsoft.com won't show it. You'll need to ask your IT department, or whoever set the device up, for the key. Bring us that and we can carry on.
Frequently asked questions
What does a BitLocker recovery key actually look like?
A single 48-digit number, shown as eight groups of six digits. It is not your Windows password, your PIN, or your Microsoft account password, it's a separate recovery code that Windows created when it encrypted the drive.
I signed in but no recovery key is listed. What now?
Most often it's simply the wrong account, try any other Microsoft accounts you own. Otherwise the PC may have used a local (non-Microsoft) account, in which case the key was likely printed or saved to a USB when BitLocker was turned on. Work or school devices keep the key with the organisation's IT. If none of those turn it up, bring the machine in and we'll talk through the options.
Why is my PC encrypted? I never turned BitLocker on.
Recent Windows 11 machines switch on Device Encryption automatically and back the key up to the Microsoft account you first sign in with, so plenty of people meet BitLocker for the first time at the recovery screen. That's also the good news: it means the key is usually sitting in that account, waiting for you.
Is it safe to send you my recovery key?
Yes. The key is useless without the actual drive it belongs to, which is here with us. Send it directly to us through our enquiry form, by email or over the phone, and avoid posting it anywhere public. We only use it to unlock your drive and get your data back.
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