How do i fix my computer that wont factory reset at all and I dont have a bit locker recovery key

1

If your drive is encrypted with Bitlocker, the only place the Bitlocker Recovery key is automatically stored is on the associated Microsoft account on the link below, be sure to check any Microsoft account that may have been used on the PC and also any work or school account that may be linked to the PC.

https://account.microsoft.com/devices/recoverykey

Are you able to find the Bitlocker Recovery Key on any account that may have been used or linked to the laptop?

If not, do you have a safe backup of your files, or use a cloud service like OneDrive to sync your files online.

2

If you are unable to find the Bitlocker Recovery Key on any account that may have been used on that device, then I am sorry for the bad news, a Windows reset will not work on an encrypted drive, the only way to access that device is to create a bootable Windows 11 USB on another working PC and use that to clean install Windows and at the start of the installation, delete all partitions on the drive to remove the encryption, which will sadly result in loss of all data on the drive.

Click this link:  https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/windows11

to download the Media Creation Tool (Click on Download Tool Now), with that you can create a bootable USB flash drive (min 8GB) using that tool.

Then, Boot your PC from the Installation Media you just created to begin installing Windows 11. 

During the installation process skip the steps which ask for a product key and select the option 'I am Reinstalling Windows 11 on this PC'.

Because the BitLocker recovery key is required to unlock the drive, there are only two possible paths:

1. Try every supported place the BitLocker key might be stored
2. If the key truly cannot be found anywhere, fully reset/reinstall Windows and accept data loss

1. Try to find the BitLocker recovery key

Follow all of these, because if the key is not found in any of them, it cannot be recovered by anyone (including Microsoft):

1. Check the Microsoft account(s) that might have been used on the device:
   • From another device, sign in to the Microsoft account that was used on the locked PC and look for BitLocker keys as described in Find your BitLocker recovery key.
2. If the PC was ever joined to a work or school account (for example a school login on the device):
   • From another device, go to https://aka.ms/aadrecoverykey.
   • Sign in with the work/school account.
   • Select Devices, expand the affected device, choose View BitLocker Keys, and match the Key ID shown on the blue screen to get the correct recovery key.
3. Check for a printed copy of the key that might have been created when BitLocker was first turned on.
4. Check any USB flash drive that might contain a text file with the recovery key.

If the device is managed by a school or organization, contact its IT department; they may have the key stored centrally.

If the key is found and the drive is unlocked, Windows can then be reset or reinstalled normally using standard Windows recovery options.

2. If the BitLocker key cannot be found anywhere

If none of the above locations contain the key, BitLocker protection cannot be bypassed. This is by design: without the recovery key, the encrypted data on the drive cannot be accessed or decrypted by anyone, including Microsoft support.

In that case, the only way to get the computer working again is to:

• Perform a full reset / clean installation of Windows using the device’s recovery image or Windows installation media, and
• Accept that everything currently stored on the encrypted drive will be lost.

For Surface and similar devices, this is typically done by downloading a recovery image on another PC, creating a USB recovery drive, booting from it, and then using it to reset the device. A similar approach can be used with generic Windows 11 installation media. Once the drive is wiped and Windows is reinstalled, BitLocker encryption on that old installation is effectively removed along with all previous data.

If the BitLocker prompt appears before Windows even starts and no recovery key can be located in any of the documented locations, this data-loss reset path is the only supported option.

References:

• Find your BitLocker recovery key
• BitLocker recovery process
• BitLocker recovery: known issues
• BitLocker recovery key prompt on the Surface Book 2 13" after the August 2018 UEFI update
• System crashes after you restart or wake up the computer in Windows 8.1 or Windows RT 8.1
• Bitlocker recovery key not working - Microsoft Q&A
• Unable to recover Bitlocker key and unable to reload Windows 11 - Microsoft Q&A
• Surface Pro 3 blocked - Microsoft Q&A
• Request for Assistance with BitLocker Recovery – Surface Pro 2 - Microsoft Q&A