You’re required to save or print out the BitLocker recovery key when setting up your machine the first time. That’s how important it is to have a recovery key. If you can not find or locate the backup key while you still have access to your computer, use the steps below to create a new backup copy of the key. BitLocker helps protect your data on your computer so only authorized users have access to it. If someone tries to access your BitLocker-enabled computer without authentication, access will be denied. Windows will require a BitLocker recovery key when it detects a possible unauthorized attempt to access the data. This extra step is a security measure to protect your data and computer. If you can not locate the BitLocker key for your machine during the recovery process, you may not be able to access your data and will have to need to reset or clean-install Windows 11.

How to back up BitLocker recovery key in Windows 11

As mentioned above, if you can not locate the BitLocker key for your machine during the recovery process, you may not be able to access your data and will have to need to reset or clean-install Windows 11. It’s also good to back up and secure your BitLocker recovery key. Below is how to create a backup of your BitLocker key. While BitLocker is enabled on your machine, open the Control Panel. In the search box on the taskbar, type Control Panel and then select Control Panel in the list of results. In the Control Panel, click on System and Security link, then open the BitLocker Drive Encryption icon. In the BitLocker drive setting pane, click on the link “Back up your recovery key” for all the drives encrypted with BitLocker You’re given multiple choices. You can choose to save your BitLocker key to your Azure AD account, save it to a USB flash drive, to a file on a network or another device or print out the recovery key from a printer. Whichever method you select to back up your key, follow the prompts and save the key. If your computer prompts you for the key, make sure to provide it to restore the machine. That should do it! Conclusion: This post shows you how to back up your BitLocker key in Windows 11. If you find any error above or have something to add, please use the comment form below.