TipsMake

How to Unlock Bitlocker Encrypted Drive from Command Prompt

Normally, when encrypting a drive with Bitlocker on a Windows computer, you set a password on it and save the recovery key, so that you can unlock the Bitlocker encrypted drive with them. You can double-click on the encrypted drive and...

Method 1 of 2:

Unlocking a Bitlocker Drive with a Password

  1. How to Unlock Bitlocker Encrypted Drive from Command Prompt Picture 1
    Run Command Prompt as an administrator.
    • On Windows 10:
      • On the bottom-left corner of the screen, type in "cmd" on the search box.
      • Right-click on the search result of Command Prompt, and then select 'Run as administrator'.
    • On Windows 10/8/7:
      • Press 'Win+R' keys to open Run application.
      • Type in: cmd, and then press 'Shift+Ctrl+Enter' keys.
      • Click on Yes on User Account Control screen, then the Command Prompt will be opened as an administrator.
  2. How to Unlock Bitlocker Encrypted Drive from Command Prompt Picture 2
    On Command Prompt screen, type in the command line and execute it.
    • Type in command line: Manage-bde -unlock E: -password
    • And then press Enter to execute it.
  3. How to Unlock Bitlocker Encrypted Drive from Command Prompt Picture 3
    Type in password to unlock Bitlocker drive. If the command above executes successfully, you will get the message asking to enter the password to unlock this volume. 
    • Type your Bitlocker drive encrypted password, and then press Enter.
    • The password is invisible on the Command Prompt screen, so make sure the password you type in is correct, or you will need to type in the command again.
    • If the password is correct, you will get the message saying 'the password successfully unlocked volume X:', which means the Bitlocker drive was unlocked with the password from Command Prompt.
Method 2 of 2:

Unlocking a Bitlocker Drive with a Recovery Key

  1. Open Command Prompt as an administrator.
    • Press 'Win+R' keys to open Run application.
    • Type in: cmd, and then press 'Shift+Ctrl+Enter' keys on keyboard at the same time.
    • Click on Yes on User Account Control screen, then the Command Prompt will be opened as an administrator.
  2. How to Unlock Bitlocker Encrypted Drive from Command Prompt Picture 4
    Type in the command line.
    • Type in the command line: manage-bde –unlock X: -RecoveryPassword XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX- XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX
    • 'X:' is the letter of Bitlocker encrypted drive and the 48 characters of the recovery key. Remember to change the X to your recovery key. For example: manage-bde –unlock L: -RecoveryPassword 007953-464848-680316-372767-326479-044872-075570-707442
  3. How to Unlock Bitlocker Encrypted Drive from Command Prompt Picture 5
    Run the command line to unlock Bitlocker drive.
    • Press Enter to execute the command
    • If you run the command successfully, you will get the message saying 'The password successfully unlock volume X:'.

Discover more

command password type prompt
Kareem Winters

Share by

Kareem Winters
Update 04 March 2020