How to Find and Back Up Your BitLocker Recovery Key (Before You Ever Need It)

You want to locate your BitLocker recovery key and keep a safe copy — ideally before a firmware update, drive swap, or wipe forces you to enter it.

Why: BitLocker can drop to a recovery screen after hardware or boot changes, and Microsoft Support cannot retrieve or recreate a lost key. The only safety net is a backup you made earlier. The good news: it takes about a minute, and you can store the key in several places at once.

Fix 1: Read your key from your Microsoft account

If BitLocker (or Windows “device encryption”) was turned on while you were signed in with a Microsoft account, a copy was saved there automatically.

1. Go to https://aka.ms/myrecoverykey and sign in with that Microsoft account.
2. You’ll see each device with a Key ID and a 48-digit recovery key. Note the Key ID so you can match it to the one shown on a recovery screen later.

For a work or school PC, use https://aka.ms/aadrecoverykey: select Devices, expand your device, and choose View BitLocker Keys.

Fix 2: Back it up from inside Windows (recommended)

This is the official way to add or refresh a backup, including to your Microsoft account:

1. From Start, type BitLocker and open Manage BitLocker.
2. Next to the drive, click Back up your recovery key.
3. Choose where to store it:
   • Save to your Microsoft account — easiest to retrieve later from any device.
   • Save to a USB flash drive — keep it somewhere other than in the PC.
   • Save to a file — a plain-text .txt you can store on another drive (not the encrypted one).
   • Print the recovery key — a paper copy for a safe place.
4. Click Finish. It’s fine to use more than one method.

Don’t save the only copy to the same drive that BitLocker is protecting — if that drive locks, you won’t be able to open the file.

Fix 3: Check or export the key with a command

To see every protector and its Key ID for the C: drive, open Command Prompt or PowerShell as administrator and run:

manage-bde -protectors -get C:

Look for the Numerical Password protector — its ID is the Key ID shown on the recovery screen, and the 48-digit value beneath it is the recovery key. To confirm BitLocker’s state on all drives:

manage-bde -status

FAQ

I have a local account, not a Microsoft account — where’s my key? Nothing was auto-saved online. Use Fix 2 to back it up now (to a USB drive, file, or printout, or by signing in with a Microsoft account).

Can Microsoft email me my key if I lost every copy? No. Microsoft Support has no ability to retrieve, provide, or recreate a lost recovery key. Back it up while you still can.

Which Key ID do I match at the recovery screen? The one on screen — match its first 8 characters to the entry in your account. Only the key whose ID matches will unlock that drive.

Sources: Microsoft Support — Back up your BitLocker recovery key, Microsoft Support — Find your BitLocker recovery key, Microsoft Learn — manage-bde protectors