How to Unlock BitLocker Encrypted Drive on Windows, Mac and Linux

Considering the security of the removable drives, such as USB flash drives, Microsoft added the BitLocker feature for users to encrypt the drive with the password protection. At the same time, it will send you a 48-digit recovery key file, which you can back up in multiple places—USB drive, Microsoft account or online cloud etc. In this article, we are talking about the ways to unlock BitLocker encrypted removable drive on Windows, Mac and Linux computer by using the password or recovery key file.

Part 1: Open BitLocker Removable Drive on Windows 10

For Windows users, it is easy for them to open, read and write the BitLocker encrypted drive with the password or the recovery key. First of all, you need to make sure that the BitLocker drive is healthy. Besides, you need the right password and recovery key.

Step -1: Insert the Removable Drive into Windows Computer.

At this time, you need to make the connection between the BitLocker drive and your Windows computer works well. At the same time, it is necessary to ensure that your drive can be detected by the computer. In other words, your computer should support BitLocker encryption and decryption process.

Step-2: Open the Drive with the Password

When you click to open the BitLocker drive, you will get a prompt which asks you to enter the password to unlock the drive. With the right password input, you should click the Unlock button so that the drive can be opened to read and write in minutes.

Step-3: Unlock the Drive with Recovery Key

If you forgot the password, there is another option for you to access the drive. When you open the drive, you can see Fewer options. Click it and choose the Enter the recovery key option, you will need to enter the 48-digit recovery key and hit the Unlock button. After that, you can open the BitLocker drive immediately.

Part 2: Unlock BitLocker Encrypted Removable drive on Mac

By default, we cannot make the removable drive with BitLocker protection accessible on macOS or Mac OSX computer. Considering the needs of the cross-platform users and making it convenient for users to transfer the data, the BitLocker reader for macOS and Mac OSX comes to the market, iSunshare Bitlocker Genius is one of them. It will save time to decrypt the drive on Windows and then open on Mac.

1. Firstly, connect the BitLocker drive with a Mac computer. When the error message “The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer” pops up, you need to click Ignore button.
2. Run the software and choose your BitLocker removable drive, click the Unlock button.
3. You will be offered two ways here as you are on a Windows computer. You can use the password or the recovery key file to unlock the drive. If you choose the password option, input the right password and click the Mount button. Otherwise, you need to click the Open button to add the recovery key file. After that, you can click Mount button to make the drive readable.

Part 3: Open BitLocker Removable Drive on Linux

For the developers, they may need to use the BitLocker drive on Linux. They can open such drives within 5 steps.

1. Install Dislocker on Linux. For the developers, they can finish this installation by executing “sudo apt-get install dislocker” command.
2. Enter the command lines “sudo mkdir /media/bitlocker” and “sudo mkdir /media/mount” to create a folder.
3. Find your BitLocker encrypted drive with the following command: sudo fdisk –1.
4. Change your device to dev/sdb1 –p YourPassword — /media/bitlcoker.
5. Mount your drive: sudo mount –r –o loop /media/bitlocker/dislocker-fiel/media/mount.

No matter what the operating system of your computers, you can easily open, read and write the BitLocker encrypted removable devices with the password or recovery key. Therefore, it is significant for you to keep the password in mind or backup the recovery key file in a safe place.