I’ll be honest, I know why Microsoft created Bitlocker but I don’t know why they implemented it the way they did or why they continue to fail with it.
To give you the easy explanation of what Bitlocker is – it’s a precaution. Drive encryption (which is what Bitlocker is) means that if you lose or someone steals your computer, they can’t get your data. Your data is encrypted. They would have to wipe the drive to even use your computer or replace the drive. This is all assuming the ‘thief’ is smart enough to know this or smart enough to at least google it.
Where it goes wrong however is if you don’t know this is enabled and Bitlocker has issues or, god-forbid, Windows has issues – it will ask for the Bitlocker key to unlock or verify the drive. If you do not have it saved somewhere, your data is lost even to you.
The pros:
1. It protects your data from people you won’t want having it – thieves or others. It’s also only enabled if you signed into your computer with a Microsoft account upon setup. 1
2. If you signed in with a Microsoft account after setup, it’s enabled by default but not considered active until you sign in again to verify the account. This means the key is saved automatically to your Microsoft account (this is also a con).
3. The key is easy to recover if you have access to the Microsoft account. 2
The cons:
1. It can cause data loss for you if you’re not proactive or cautious.
2. It’s enabled by default since Windows 11 24H2 (approx. 2024).
3. Because it’s enabled by default, it saves your Bitlocker key to the Microsoft account you sign in with first. The problem? A lot of people, especially of the elderly age group, will sign up for a Microsoft account using a new Outlook/Hotmail/Live/etc. email that they forget the password for. This causes data loss if the key was not saved or the Microsoft account cannot be accessed.
4. It can be enabled and NOT be saved automatically to your Microsoft account like it should be.
5. Windows and/or Microsoft have no means of making it apparent to users that their device has Bitlocker enabled and the key should be backed up. It’s all happening in the background without your knowledge.
What you can do from preventing data loss for yourself? Backup your recovery key and ensure you have consistent access to the Microsoft account associated with Windows.
Backup your Recovery Key
I recommend you do this for yourself and confirm any friends or family are doing the same for their computer. It’s a problem that I encounter all too often as a computer repair technician. If you don’t have access to the key or the account it may or may not be backed up to – your data is gone and there’s no recovering it.