BitLocker Recovery: Deleted Files, Lost Partitions, and Damaged Drives
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ In this video, we will show you how to recover data from BitLocker-encrypted drives using Hetman Partition Recovery. We will cover recovering files from a Windows system drive, an additional hard disk drive (HDD), and a BitLocker To Go USB flash drive after accidental deletion, formatting, file system corruption, or a TPM lockout.
This guide will be useful for anyone who has experienced data loss on BitLocker-encrypted drives.
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👉 How to Recover Data from an Encrypted BitLocker Drive - https://hetmanrecovery.com/recovery_news/how-to-recover-data-from-bitlocker-drive
📚 Content:
00:00 - Intro
01:12 - BitLocker Encryption Features
02:46 - Connecting Encrypted Drives to a PC
03:23 - Recovering Data from a System Drive
06:23 - Recovering Data from an Additional Hard Drive
08:28 - Recovering Data from an Encrypted USB Flash Drive
10:10 - Conclusion
⚙️Encrypted Data Recovery: BitLocker, LUKS, APFS, HFS+, EFS & fscrypt - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLvT-pNv99gk
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Other videos: #BitLocker #BitLockerRecovery #DataRecovery #Windows #Encryption #EncryptedDrive #SSDRecovery #HDDRecovery #USBRecovery #RecoveryKey #HetmanSoftware #CyberSecurity
Closed Caption:
Hello everyone. Welcome to the Hetman
Software Channel. Today, we're going to
talk about recovering data from
BitLocker encrypted drives. BitLocker
provides reliable protection against
unauthorized access, but it cannot
prevent hardware failures or user
errors. Accidentally deleting documents
without sending them to the recycle bin,
formatting a partition by mistake, or
file [music] system corruption are all
common situations in which access to
your data can be unexpectedly lost.
Although encryption makes the recovery
process more challenging, [music] it
certainly does not mean that your data
is lost forever. In this video, we'll
walk you through the entire process of
recovering files from BitLocker
encrypted system drives, secondary hard
drives, and portable [music] USB storage
devices using Hetman Partition Recovery.
One of the key advantages of Hetman
[music] Partition Recovery is that it
allows you to safely unlock and recover
encrypted drives directly within your
familiar operating system, whether
you're running Windows 11, macOS Sonoma,
or Ubuntu Linux.
>> [music]
>> BitLocker encryption features. Primary
way to unlock any BitLocker protected
drive is by using the password that was
set when BitLocker was enabled. If the
password has been lost or is no longer
accepted, the 48-digit recovery key
becomes the essential method for
unlocking the drive. In most cases, the
recovery key is automatically saved to
your Microsoft account or stored as a
standard text file with the [music] .txt
extension.
When searching for the correct recovery
key, always [music] pay close attention
to the key ID.
Hetman Partition Recovery automatically
displays this unique identifier in the
unlock window, allowing you to compare
it against the information stored in
your Microsoft account or in your saved
text file to determine exactly which
recovery key belongs to your encrypted
drive.
Alternatively, [music] you can unlock
the drive using a dedicated key file
with the .bek extension.
For this reason, before searching for
deleted files in Hetman Partition
Recovery, the encrypted volume must
first be unlocked. If you start scanning
without entering either the password or
the recovery key, the program will
detect nothing more than an unreadable
block of encrypted data that cannot be
analyzed.
Only after the drive has been
successfully unlocked, does Hetman
Partition Recovery gain full access to
the file system, perform a comprehensive
analysis, and efficiently recover lost
data even after severe logical
corruption. Connecting encrypted drives
to a PC. Before you begin the recovery
process, you need to connect the
encrypted drive to a working computer.
The most reliable and recommended method
is to connect [music] the drive directly
to the motherboard via the SATA
interface. This provides the highest
possible read speed and ensures stable
operation while the drive is being
analyzed. Alternatively, you can use an
external USB enclosure or a docking
station. However, keep in mind that the
bandwidth of the USB interface is
significantly lower, so the scanning and
data recovery process may take
considerably longer. Recovering data
from a system drive. Now, let's take a
look at the process of recovering data
from a BitLocker encrypted system drive
running Windows 11. Loss of access to
data is not always caused by
accidentally deleting files without
sending them to the recycle bin.
Another common scenario occurs when the
system becomes locked by the Trusted
Platform Module. It's important to
understand that virtually any change to
your [music] computer's hardware
configuration, such as replacing the
memory modules, installing a new
processor, or connecting an additional
storage device, may be interpreted by
the system as a potential security
threat. The same can also happen after a
BIOS update, which many modern laptops
install automatically. As a result, the
TPM may prevent Windows from booting.
[music] Instead of loading the operating
system, the computer displays a prompt
asking you to enter the BitLocker
recovery key. To safely recover your
data, you'll need to remove the system
drive from the affected computer and
connect it to another fully functional
PC. Once connected, the drive will
appear as a locked BitLocker encrypted
volume. One of the key advantages of
Hetman Partition Recovery is its native
support for BitLocker encryption.
There's no need to unlock the drive
using Windows before starting the
recovery process. Simply locate the
encrypted system volume in the list of
connected drives and open it. The
program will automatically prompt you to
enter the recovery key or specify the
location of the saved key file. At the
same time, it automatically detects the
unique key ID and displays it in the
unlock [music] window. This allows you
to quickly compare the identifier with
the information stored in your Microsoft
account or in your saved text [music]
file to determine exactly which recovery
key belongs to your encrypted drive.
After you enter the correct recovery
key, Hetman Partition Recovery unlocks
the file system on the fly, and the
unlocked partition immediately becomes
available in the program's main window.
In most cases, fast scan is all you need
to locate deleted files. This scanning
mode quickly analyzes the file system,
detects deleted file records, and
reconstructs the original folder
structure. Once the scan is complete,
open the recovered partition and browse
its contents. Locate the folders you
need and use the built-in preview
feature to verify the integrity of your
documents, photos, and other files
before recovering them.
Next, select the files you want to
restore and click the recover button.
When saving the recovered files, it's
essential to follow one important
[music] rule. Never save them back to
the same system drive you're recovering
them from.
Always choose a different physical
storage device as the destination, such
as an external hard drive, an SSD, a USB
flash drive, or a network location. This
prevents data from being overwritten
>> [music]
>> and significantly increases the chances
of a successful recovery. Recovering
data from an additional hard drive. Now,
let's look at the process of recovering
data from an additional hard drive. In
most cases, data on additional drives is
lost after a partition is accidentally
formatted during an operating system
reinstallation, the partition table
becomes damaged, or logical errors cause
the file system to become inaccessible
and appear as raw. One important
characteristic of these drives is that
they may contain multiple BitLocker
encrypted volumes. However, when
recovering lost data, you only need to
work with the partition where the data
loss actually occurred. In this example,
we'll demonstrate how to unlock and
recover data from a single selected
volume.
Since we used a recovery key in the
previous example, this time we'll use a
different unlocking method.
Select the locked partition in the
Hetman Partition Recovery interface and
specify the location of the saved.bek
key file. After processing the key file,
the program automatically unlocks the
volume, making it immediately available
in the list of accessible drives. To
search for deleted files, run fast scan
on the unlocked partition. This scanning
mode quickly analyzes the file system,
reads the remaining file system records,
reconstructs the original folder
structure, and restores file names with
the highest possible accuracy. Once the
scan is complete, you can browse the
contents of the recovered partition and
locate the files you need. The built-in
preview feature allows you to easily
verify the integrity of spreadsheets,
text documents, photos, and other files
before recovering them. Select all the
files you want to restore and click the
recovery button.
When choosing a destination, always save
the recovered data to a different
physical storage device. This prevents
existing data from being overwritten and
provides the safest possible environment
for recovering your files.
Recovering data from an encrypted USB
flash drive. Users often experience data
loss on portable USB flash drives
protected with BitLocker To Go. This may
happen after accidentally deleting
important files without sending them to
the recycle bin, or as a result of
logical corruption that causes the file
system to become inaccessible and appear
as raw. In some cases, Windows may even
prompt you to format the flash drive
because it can no longer recognize its
file system. There is one important
detail to keep in mind. When enabling
BitLocker To Go, Windows lets you choose
between two encryption modes:
compatibility mode, designed for earlier
versions of Windows, and the modern
XTS-AES
encryption mode, intended for newer
versions of the operating system. Hetman
Partition Recovery automatically
recognizes both encryption modes, so you
don't need to worry about which version
of Windows was used to encrypt the flash
drive.
Once the device is connected, it
immediately appears in the program
interface, where it can be quickly
unlocked by entering its password. After
successfully unlocking the drive and
gaining access to its file system, run
fast scan to quickly locate your lost
files.
Once the scan is complete, open the
contents of the flash drive.
The built-in preview feature allows you
to easily verify the integrity of
recovered photos, documents, and other
files before recovering them. Finally,
[music] select the files you want to
recover and click the recovery button.
Choose a safe destination for the
recovered data, such as your computer's
local hard drive,
>> [music]
>> an external storage device, or another
secure location. As you've seen,
recovering data from BitLocker encrypted
drives is entirely possible with Hetman
Partition Recovery. The program allows
you to unlock encrypted hard drives,
SSDs, and USB storage devices [music]
directly within its own interface,
eliminating the need to use the
operating system's built-in BitLocker
management tools. However, successful
data recovery depends on one critical
requirement. You must have the correct
recovery key or the corresponding key
file. Without either of them, access to
the contents of an encrypted drive is
impossible, and no data recovery
software can decrypt the information.
That's why it's essential to keep your
recovery keys in a safe and secure
location.
If this video helped you recover your
important files, don't forget to give it
a thumbs up and subscribe to our
channel. If you have any questions about
using Hetman Partition Recovery, feel
free to leave them in the comments
below. We'll be happy to answer your
questions and help you find the best
solution for your specific situation.
Thank you for watching, and we'll see
you in the next video.
>> [music]
Video Length: 11:34
Uploaded By: Hetman Software: RAID / VM / Server Data Recovery
Published: 8/6/2026
View Count: 469