Windows 10: BitLocker unilaterally locked my external hard drive

BitLocker locked my external hard drive without being asked. I installed an NVME m.2 SSD in a laptop and loaded a bunch of content onto it. Used it fine for several months. I then sold the laptop, removed the hard drive, and installed it in my desktop only to discovered that the drive was now encrypted by BitLocker. This was a shock to me, because until this point, I had never even heard of BitLocker. I removed the hard drive and tried installing it in several other computers, but it remains locked everywhere. Unfortunately, I sold the original laptop before this problem came up, so I can

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External Hard Drive Locked Automatically by Bitlocker

I have a problem with my external hard drive. It appears that Bitlocker locked it without my knowledge. I have never even heard of Bitlocker before my File Explorer told me that the drive was locked by Bitlocker.

I have no password because I did not set it up. As for the recovery key, I was able to retrieve it from my Microsoft Account. However, when I used it, Windows 10 did not accept the recovery key.

How do I recover my files from my external hard drive?

Thanks,

Rob

 

Remove BitLocker for external drive

Hi,



Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.



We understand that you want to disable BitLocker for the external hard drive. However, we would like to know if you are able to access data from the external hard drive.



In the meantime, you may refer the steps mentioned below to disable BitLocker:

1. Type Command Prompt in the search bar on the
   Taskbar.
   
2. Right click on the Command Prompt icon and select
   Run as administrator.
   
3. Type manage-bde –off X: and hit
   Enter. (Replace X with the drive letter of the external hard drive)
   

Meanwhile, you may also post your query in
TechNet forums, where we have support professionals who are well equipped with the knowledge on BitLocker to address your query.



Regards,

Nikhar Khare

Microsoft Community - Moderator

 

Bitlocker doesn't recognize external hard drive

I am running Windows 10 pro and when I go into the policies they are listed as not configured. The hard drive is a Toshiba Canvio Basics 2 TB USB 3.0 Hard Drive. I successfully used bitlocker on my internal hard drive 2 years ago so maybe the external
drive is the issue?