Forum Discussion
Bitlocker key requested on the boot, but I don’t have any key
Unfortunately, if the key was never backed up anywhere and you don't have a printed or saved copy, the drive's contents are not recoverable — that's by design; BitLocker's whole purpose is that AES-encrypted data is inaccessible without the key or the original TPM/PIN state. No support tier, Microsoft or otherwise, can bypass this, and no legitimate data recovery service can break the encryption itself (some will claim they can try, but for BitLocker specifically that's essentially never true unless there's a weak, guessable password involved).
At that point your realistic options are:
Keep digging through every account/device/file location above (many people find it eventually)
If the data isn't critical, do a clean install of Windows on the drive (this wipes it) and use it going forward — ideally with recovery key backup enabled and verified this time
If the data is precious and irreplaceable, it may be worth pausing and not doing anything else to the drive until you've exhausted every account check, in case a professional recovery specialist ever does have a legitimate avenue (rare, but not worth foreclosing prematurely)