How to find the recovery key for your encrypted Windows 11 PC
System encryption is a safety aspect that Microsoft normally quietly permits all through Windows 11 setup. Sign in with a Microsoft account on a Computer system with compatible hardware, and the deed is (ordinarily) performed.
In point, a lot of Windows 11 people may not even comprehend that their Personal computer is encrypted—nor that the restoration important is also automatically saved to your Microsoft account. That essential is required if you at any time fail to remember your password, or the knowledge saved in your TPM receives wiped. It enables you to unlock the info saved on the drive, in any other case it’ll continue being a scrambled collection of 1s and 0s. (A helpful predicament when someone else has your laptop computer, but far significantly less so when you require obtain.)
[ Further reading: What is a TPM and why isn’t mine working? ]
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Fortunately, viewing that restoration crucial is straightforward. Just head over to account.microsoft.com/equipment/recoverykey. For more basic safety, you can make a backup of your recovery key—but handle it like the delicate details it is. One particular way of storing the information securely is to generate an entry in a password supervisor, for illustration. (Really don’t already have a single? Examine out our top tips for password managers.)
If you really do not see a key, make sure you are logged into the accurate account. Only have one particular account? If an individual else set up your Laptop for you, the essential could be tied to their account as an alternative. Or if you’re a Home windows 11 Pro consumer, BitLocker could not have been enabled through a Microsoft account. Whoever set up your Laptop may perhaps have produced a area account then activated BitLocker.
You are going to definitely want to help save your restoration crucial if this the case—it indicates you really don’t have a duplicate of it saved everywhere. Go to Handle Panel > BitLocker Travel Encryption > Backup your recovery important. Conserving to your Microsoft account is the most simple choice.
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By the way, if preserving monitor of a restoration crucial appears to be like a headache, and you’re tempted to just turn off encryption—don’t do it. You’re superior off backing up your information to various locations (which you should really be executing already…) and leaving encryption on. Share the restoration important with reliable contacts much too, as relevant.
It could seem to be alarming that Microsoft has enabled a element you didn’t explicitly greenlight, but it truly is to your gain. Smartphones have made encrypted storage the default for ages, and with most people favoring laptops, you danger obtaining your delicate details (economical information, and so forth) falling into the incorrect arms if you don’t encrypt your unit. So depart it on. Other Windows 11 characteristics are certainly bothersome plenty of to nuke, but not this just one.