How to Format Encrypted Hard Drive without Password
An encrypted hard drive is a hard drive that uses disk encryption to protect information by converting it into unreadable code that can't be deciphered by unauthorized people. Windows, starting with Vista, provides a feature called BitLocker, which is a full disk encryption solution that protects data by encrypting entire volumes. When you enable or lock a BitLocker drive, such as a USB or SD card, you may need to format the encrypted hard drive.
You can't access the drive because it's encrypted with BitLocker and you don't have the restore key. To wipe the drive, you can try using a Linux live CD or USB, which can read the drive without needing the restore key. You can then use the Linux system to format the drive, effectively wiping it. This way, you can regain access to the drive without needing the unknown restore key.
Can you format an encrypted hard drive?
Formatting an encrypted drive depends on the type of drive, but generally, you can easily format a data storage drive like a USB or SD card without a password. However, if the drive is system-encrypted with BitLocker, you'll need to enter the recovery key to format it.
If you forget the password or restore key after encrypting the entire hard drive, you can't decrypt it. To reuse the hard drive, you should format it properly. This will allow you to access the drive again. (Note: This will erase all data on the drive, so make sure you have backups before doing this.)
How to format a BitLocker encrypted hard drive on Windows
To format encrypted drives, you can either unlock the BitLocker drive from the command prompt or use a free third-party tool to format/erase the drive. This allows you to access the encrypted data on the drive.
▶ Solution 1. Format BitLocker encrypted HDD with free partition software
Qiling Disk Master Standard is a professional disk partitioning software that helps you format an encrypted hard drive. You can either format the encrypted hard drive or delete the BitLocker partition to create a new one, regardless of whether you've forgotten or lost your BitLocker password. The software has an advanced formatting feature that allows you to format the BitLocker-encrypted hard disk, USB, or SD card to FAT, NTFS, exFAT, and other file systems.
This software can resize BitLocker partitions on various Windows versions, including Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP, and also resize BitLocker partitions.
✎ Option 1. Format encrypted hard drive directly
1. Install and launch the program. Right-click the BitLocker encrypted hard drive and choose "Format Partition".
2. Select the file system for the encrypted HDD.
3. Click Proceed to format a BitLocker encrypted hard drive without a key.
Then restart your computer, and you will find the BitLocker has been removed.
✎ Option 2. Alternative to format BitLocker encrypted hard drive directly
There is another way: you have to delete all partitions on the encrypted HDD, then create a new partition on it, and then you will find that you have already removed BitLocker from the encrypted hard drive. The steps are listed below:
1. Run the program, click the encrypted hard drive, and choose Delete Partition to delete the partition.
2. Select a method to delete the partition, and hit OK.
3. To create a partition on a BitLocker encrypted hard drive, right-click the drive and select "Create Partition" from the context menu. This will allow you to create a new partition on the encrypted drive.
4. Choose the proper file system for that partition.
5. Press Proceed to create a new partition without BitLocker encryption.
Tips:
● If you are running Windows Server OS, please switch to Qiling Disk Master Server.
● You can even clone a BitLocker drive after upgrading to the Professional Edition.
▶ Solution 2. Unlock BitLocker encrypted drive from command prompt
The Command Prompt provides a full solution for Windows errors, and for those familiar with diskpart and computer knowledge, it can be used to unlock a BitLocker encrypted drive from the Command Prompt.
1. Hit Win+R key, then type diskpart and press Enter.
2. Then input these commands below in turn:
◆ list disk
◆ select disk n, To format a disk, you can use the `format` command in the terminal. The syntax is `format /dev/rdiskn`, where `n` is the disk you want to format.
◆ list partition
◆ select partition n,
◆ delete partition override
3. To permanently delete data on an encrypted hard drive, type 'exit' to close the window, which will erase all data on the drive. This will then allow you to create a new partition on the drive.
Conclusion
After using the methods to remove BitLocker from an encrypted hard drive, you can use the hard drive again. Additionally, Qiling Disk Master allows you to remove write protection from USB devices, among other functions.
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