By Achilles Hill | Last Updated
In this article, you can learn about how to unlock the BitLocker drive in Windows 10 by using the system inbuilt applications including File Explorer, Control Panel, Command Prompt and PowerShell. Also, a third-party tool will be shared with you, which can help you effortlessly open the BitLocker drive with its password or recovery key. For more details, let's move on.
Head to File Explorer and double-click the BitLocker encrypted drive in the left pane. Then, type the BitLocker password in the shown box and hit Unlock button to unlock your BitLocker drive.
If you want to unlock the encrypted drive with the BitLocker recovery key, you need to click More options firstly. Then choose Enter recovery key option, input the recovery key and hit Unlock button.
Step 1: Access Control Panel.
Step 2: Choose System and Security option in the interface.
Step 3: Click BitLocker Drive Encryption option.
Step 4: Select the BitLocker drive and click Unlock drive option. After that, choose to unlock your BitLocker drive with the password or recovery key. To view the Enter recovery key option, you have to click More options (which will be changed to Fewer options after clicking) firstly.
Is there any way for you to unlock the BitLocker drive as easily as using File Explorer or Control Panel? Yes, it's applying the third-party tool named iSunshare BitLocker Genius for Windows which can assist users in conveniently managing their BitLocker drives. When the 2 applications above fail to complete the BitLocker-unlocking operation for you, BitLocker Genius for Windows is no doubt a good choice.
Step 1: Install iSunshare BitLocker Genius for Windows on your computer.
Step 2: Run the tool and right-click the BitLocker drive to choose Unlock Drive option.
Step 3: You can unlock the chosen drive with its BitLocker password or BitLocker recovery key.
Step 4: When the tool successfully unlocks the drive, you can receive the following notice box.
Step 1: Run Command Prompt as an admin.
Step 2: Execute the command: manage-bde -unlock (drive letter): -password. The drive letter here is the one of the BitLocker drive you want to unlock.
Step 3: Type the BitLocker password and press Enter button to confirm your password. Instantly, the BitLocker drive is unlocked.
To use the recovery key for unlocking your BitLocker drive, you can use the command: manage-bde -unlock (drive letter): -recoverypassword (BitLocker recovery key).
Tips: Don't forget to change the (drive letter) and (BitLocker recovery key) to the related ones of your BitLocker drive.
Step 1: Search PowerShell in the taskbar and right-click it to choose Run as an administrator option.
Step 2: Type the command: Unlock-BitLocker -MountPoint "(drive letter):" -Password (Read-Host "Enter Password" -AsSecureString) and press Enter button to run it. You need to replace the drive letter with your BitLocker drive letter. Then, you can enter the BitLocker password to unlock your encrypted drive.
To unlock your BitLocker drive with its recovery key in PowerShell, here is the command you can run: Unlock-BitLocker -MountPoint "H:" -RecoveryPassword 177386-268323-XXXXXX-196383-226820-694892-616231-297616.
Note: "H" is the drive letter of your BitLocker drive.
"177386-268323-XXXXXX-196383-226820-694892-616231-297616" is the BitLocker recovery key.
If the BitLocker recovery key is lost and you forget the BitLocker password, is it possible for you to unlock the BitLocker drive? Yes, you can use iSunshare UBitkey to find the correct BitLocker password or recovery key. This is an advanced BitLocker password recovery utility for Windows users to recover the BitLocker password.
iSunshare UBitkey supports BitLocker encrypted drives, hard disks, external hard disks and removable devices protected by BitLocker-To-Go. Three password search methods are developed here, which includes Brute Force, Mask and Dictionary. It is also possible to get the recovery key within simple clicks. After the password or recovery key is recovered, you can utilize the above methods to unlock the drive.
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