Carbonite Support > Microsoft BitLocker Encryption

Microsoft BitLocker Encryption

Summary:

BitLocker is an encryption feature provided by Microsoft in their Windows 10 and Windows 11 operating systems to decrease risk of data theft or unauthorized access.

If BitLocker is in use, you must have the BitLocker encryption key to access your drive contents. This is a unique key that you will need to decrypt your encrypted drive and view any files.

If Carbonite backs up data that is encrypted with BitLocker, the BitLocker encryption key is required to decrypt your files after restoring them from Carbonite. Please ensure you keep your BitLocker encryption key in a safe place that you can access, even if your computer crashes. You can have multiple copies of this key in different locations, such as a non-encrypted hard drive in your computer, a USB drive, or a trusted friend/family member's hard drive.

Note: If you only store your BitLocker encryption key on your hard drive and your files are encrypted, you will not be able to decrypt your files after restoring them to a different computer with Carbonite. This scenario is equivalent to locking yourself out of your home: you must have a copy of your key that you can access to re-enter. In the same manner, you must have an unencrypted copy of your BitLocker encryption key to access your encrypted files again. You cannot access encrypted files by any other means; you must have the encryption key.

This article applies to:

Carbonite Plans Products Platforms
Basic, Plus, Prime, Core, Power, and Ultimate plans (Not sure?) Safe, Safe Pro, and Safe Server Backup Windows

Solution:

You can find your current BitLocker key using these instructions from Microsoft.

We strongly suggest backing up a copy of this key in at least one other safe place. If you back it up with Carbonite on a different computer, you can use Anytime Anywhere Access to restore your key from that Carbonite subscription.

Carbonite support can only help you locate your BitLocker key in your Carbonite backup. We cannot help locate your key in any other place, including your hard drive.

If you require any other assistance with BitLocker encryption, we recommend contacting Microsoft support for assistance.

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