How to Recover Formatted BitLocker Encrypted Hard Drive

BitLocker Drive Encryption is a data protection feature and integrates with the operating system. It is designed to safeguard data by providing encryption for entire volumes. One can avoid data theft and crucial data leak with the help of BitLocker. No one except the owner himself has the decryption code.

It provides the most protection when used with a Trusted Platform Module (TPM). The TPM is a hardware component installed in many newer computers. It works with BitLocker to help protect user data and to ensure that a computer has not been tampered with while the system was offline. You can use BitLocker without a TPM chip by using software-based encryption, but it requires some extra steps for additional authentication.

Why You Lost Data from Bitlocker HDD

At the time BitLocker protects data from being stolen or exposed to others, it's prone to lose data, too. Here are some common examples:

• Mistakenly deleted files from BitLocker encrypted hard drive.
• Deleted Bitlocker encrypted partition.
• You formatted your hard drive and lost data.
• Your hard drive was infected with a virus.
• You hard drive corrupted and you cannot access it.

...

How to Recover Data from BitLocker Encrypted Hard Drive 

Once your encrypted hard drive suffers from severe data loss, it's necessary to recover data with the best data recovery software. Decrypt your hard drive, and recover data with EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard. Here are the reasons why you choose this data recovery software:

Easy Operation

The new interface makes it extremely easy to start a recovery session. You do not need to have the technical background to use it.

Wide Compatibility

It supports almost all Windows system such as Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP, and Windows Server 2019/2016/2012/2008/2003.

High Quality

This software promises high quality of data recovery. It can fully scan the drive and will not bring any damage to the original data. 

Now follow the steps to retrieve data from BitLocker encrypted hard drive: 

Step 1. Choose the encrypted drive to scan

Launch EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard and you will see the BitLocker encrypted drive displayed there. 

When you click on the encrypted partition, a pop-up window will remind you to enter a password to unlock it.  Input the key and click the "Scan" button to look for lost files.

Note: If you forget the key, you can use "Try Automatically Decrypt," which may help you decrypt the drive. But this may not work. If it failed, this program can't scan the drive.

Step 2. Select and preview scanned files

The software will start a quick scan for deleted files and perform advanced scan for more lost files. When the process completes, you can apply the "Filter" feature or click the "Search files or folders" button to find the lost files in a short time.

Step 3. Recover lost files from BitLocker encrypted hard drive 

After previewing the file, click the "Recover" button to restore deleted or lost files from BitLocker encrypted partition on Windows.

Extra Tips - How to Disable BitLocker Encryption

BitLocker can be disabled by the following modes:

1. Through Windows GUI mode

Ensure that you have administrator credentials to disable BitLocker encryption. Follow the steps given below to disable BitLocker encryption in GUI mode:

Step 1: Click Start > Control Panel > System and Security, and then click "BitLocker Drive Encryption".

Step 2: Look for the drive on which you want BitLocker Drive Encryption turned off, and click "Turn Off BitLocker".

A message will be displayed, stating that the drive will be decrypted and that decryption may take some time. 

Step 3: Click "Turn off BitLocker / Decrypt the drive" to turn off BitLocker on the drive.

2. Using Windows Powershell

Windows Power shell must be installed in your system. If not, download proper Windows Powershell version from Microsoft website.

Disable BitLocker for all volumes

Step 1: Open Windows Powershell in Administrator mode and execute the following commands:

PS C:\>$BLV = Get-BitLockerVolume
PS C:\>Disable-BitLocker -MountPoint $BLV

Step 2: Verify the decryption process.

Execute this command:
PS C:\> Get-BitlockerVolume

Check decryption progress in "Volume Status" and "Encryption Percentage". These values must be "FullyDecrypted".

Disable BitLocker for a single volume

Step 1: Open Windows Powershell in Administrator mode and disable-BitLocker -MountPoint "C:"

Step 2: Verify the decryption process by executing the command:
PS C:\> Get-BitlockerVolume -MountPoint "C:"

Check decryption progress in "Volume Status" and "Encryption Percentage". The value must be "FullyDecrypted".