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How to Recover Lost Data from BitLocker Encrypted Drive?

Written By Mansi Verma
Approved By Rohit Arora
Updated on 2 Sep 2024
Min Reading 5 Min

Data loss from a BitLocker encrypted drive can occur due to accidental deletion, drive formatting, etc. However, encrypted hard drive data recovery is possible if you have a backup or a Windows data recovery software installed on your system.

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Encryption adds an extra layer of protection to your important data. Whether you use an external tool to encrypt your files or the Windows BitLocker utility, the purpose is to safeguard your data from unauthorized access.

BitLocker, a full disk encryption feature built into Windows, is the easiest way for Windows users to encrypt their drives and safeguard sensitive information from unwanted or malicious access. However, this protection comes with its own challenges, primarily the risk of accidental data loss or hard drive failure that could make encrypted drives inaccessible.

Fortunately, there are ways to recover BitLocker encrypted drive data. In this article, we’ll explore all the possible causes of losing BitLocker-encrypted data and how to recover them. Continue reading to learn more.

Reasons for Data Loss from BitLocker Encrypted Drive

Several reasons may lead to data loss from BitLocker encrypted drives. However, some of the most common ones include the following:

Accidental data deletion
Encrypted partition header issues
Bad sectors leading to severe hard drive corruption
‘Encrypted data is not accessible on new machine’ error
Accidental drive partition formatting while managing the disk partitions

Ways to Recover Lost Data from BitLocker Encrypted Drive

If you lost your data from the encrypted drive for any reason, there are ways to regain access to it.

Method 1: Restore from Backup

Many people back up their data on an external storage drive. If you’ve also backed up your data on a storage device, you can easily connect it to your system and retrieve the files.

And, if you have taken the backup of your BitLocker encrypted drive data using Windows backup utilities, such as File History, Backup & Restore (Windows 7), etc., follow the steps below to get them back.

A. Encrypted File Recovery with File History

If the ‘File History’ utility was enabled before you lost files from your encrypted hard drive, you can easily follow the given steps to recover them:

Connect an external storage drive to the system.
Open Control Panel and go to File History.

select-file-history-from-control-panel

On the next prompt, click Restore personal files.
The file history with data and time will appear on your system screen.

select-restore-personal-files

Select the files you want to retrieve and click ‘Restore to.’

click-Restore-to-and-save-the-files-to-the-chosen-location

Choose an external storage drive to store the recovered files and other data.

B. Encrypted File Recovery with Backup & Restore (Windows 7)

If you have set up a backup using the Backup & Restore (Windows 7) utility, you can follow the steps given below to retrieve the lost data from BitLocker encrypted drive.

Connect an external storage media to your system.
Go to Control Panel. Locate and open Backup and Restore.
On the following prompt, click either Restore my files or Restore all users’ files.

Then, choose the files you want to retrieve.

select-the-files

Afterward, click either ‘Browse for files’ or ‘Browse for folder’ and click Next.

browse-for-files-or-browse-for-folders

Choose Next > Restore to store the recoverable files to the storage media.

Method 2: Use Data Recovery Tool to Recover the Encrypted Hard Drive Data

If no backup is available, your best shot at recovering lost or deleted data from a BitLocker encrypted drive is a Windows data recovery tool, such as Stellar Data Recovery. This DIY data recovery software can recover data from storage devices encrypted with Windows' BitLocker utility.

Note: The software will work only when you have the encryption password.

Follow the given steps:

If you lost data from an external drive encrypted with the BitLocker feature, connect it to your system.
Download, install, and run Stellar Data Recovery on your PC.
Choose 'All Data' or select the type of data you want to restore from the 'Select What to Recover’ screen and click Next.

select-All-Data-to-click-Next

Select the BitLocker encrypted drive volume under Connected Drives and click Scan.

Select-BitLocker-encrypted-drive-and-click-Scan

The software prompts and asks for a BitLocker password. Enter the encryption password to permit access and scan the drive.

enter-BitLocker-encrypted-drive

Note: The software will only recover data from the encrypted storage media if you know or remember the BitLocker password.

Once you enter the encryption password or key, the software scans the drive. Once the scanning is completed, you will see a preview of the files you want to recover.
You can also run Deep Scan by selecting the 'Click Here' link at the bottom.
Select the chosen files and click 'Recover.'

select-files-to-Recover

Click 'Browse' to choose a storage location to save the retrieved files.

Note: Choose a different drive from which you lost the data. Always use an external storage drive to save the recovered files and prevent the data from being overwritten.

Browse-destination-to-store-recoverable-files

Finally, select 'Start Saving' to store the recovered files.

start-saving-the-recoverable-files

Wait until the process ends. Once done, close the wizard and check the recovered files at the chosen location.

EndNote

BitLocker encryption does assure additional data security. However, data loss is inevitable even from encrypted drives. Recover data from available backups, and when backup is unavailable, rely on Stellar Data Recovery software to restore lost files from BitLocker-encrypted drives.

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