How to Wipe Drive with Bitlocker (Even without Recovery Key)

If you’ve tried to wipe drive with Bitlocker using "Reset this PC", you’ve likely hit a wall. It’s more than just a password on your files, but a full-disk encryption shield tied to your computer's hardware (specifically the TPM chip).

You can’t simply "Reset" the device to bypass security, even in the Windows recovery environment, as the system needs to access the drive to modify system files, but BitLocker has "locked" those sectors, preventing unauthorized access to it.

Without the key, the files are scrambled into "ciphertext". This digital gibberish can never be restored. But you can still perform a “clean” wipe for reuse through certain methods. Let’s get started!

What You Need Before You Wipe?

Before performing a full erasure, you need to gathersometoolsto carry out this operation outside the operating system.

The "Safety Net" USB: Your Key to a Fresh Start

Sinceyour current Windows installation is inaccessible, youcan choose to prepare a Windows installation USB, or create a bootable USB on another PC to bypass the encrypted system drive. To make it, you need:

• A USB flash drive with at least 8GB. Note that the creation process will erase everything currently on that USB, so backup dataon it first.
• The Official Tool - download MediaCreationTool from Microsoft. This utility will format USB and turn it into a bootable media to bypassBitLocker lock.

Check for Browser Profile and Cloud Backups

Before wiping, it’s necessary to check for cloud backups, such as OneDrive, deeply integrated into Windows 10 & 11 to backup important folders, such as Documents, Pictures, Desktop, Music, and Videos.

Open a browser on another PC and log in with your OneDrive account. You can then check if there is any backup available.

In addition, you can sign in to your browser profile (e.g., Chrome, Edge, or Firefox) on a new computer to restore your bookmarks, saved passwords, and history immediately.

⚠️Warning: Once you proceed to wipe Bitlocker drive, all data on the drive, including BitLocker metadatais gone forever. Be sure you have exhausted all attempts to find therecovery key beforehand.

How to Wipe Drive with BitLocker using Diskpart

With a Windows installation USB, you can boot your computer from it to bypass BitLocker encryption and use CMD command to wipe hard drive.

Step 1. Connect yourWindows Installation USB. Restart your computer and press the BIOS key, usually F2, F10, F12, Del, F8, or Esc, etc., to access the BIOS/UEFI settings Window. Then, set the USB drive as the first boot option. Press F10 to save changes and reboot.

Step 2. Wait for the Windows Setup screen to appear. You are now in a "pre-install" environment, not an encrypted drive. Press Shift + F10 to open the Command Prompt window.

Step 3. In the Command Prompt window, typethe following commands one by one, pressing Enter after each.

• diskpart
• list disk
• select disk 2 (Replace 2 with the number of your system drive.)
• clean all
• exit

It launches the DiskPart utility and allows you to overwrite the partition table and BitLocker meta data using clean all command, leaving you with "Unallocated Space" ready for a fresh, unencrypted Windows installation.

Just go back to the Windows Setup screen, click Next > Install Now. Be sure to select Custom: Install Windows Only (advanced) during the installation process.

How to Wipe Bitlocker Drive Easily

Except for the Windows installation USB, you can also use AOMEI Backupper Professional, an all-in-one bootable wiper for Bitlocker wipe drive. It allows you to create a bootable USB drive for another PC and wipe hard drive in the recovery environment. You don’t need to download extra software.

Step 1. Launch AOMEI Backupper. Then, go to Tools and click Create Bootable Media.

Step 2. Select USB Boot Device and click Create.

Step 3. Once complete, connect the bootable USB to wipe Bitlocker drive. You need to change the boot priority in the BIOS/UEFI settings window.

Step 4. Wait until you see AOMEI Backupper. Then, under the Tools tab, click Disk Wipe.

Step 5. Select Wipe disk, then the BitLocker drive. Click Next.

Step 6. Select a disk wiping method, depending on how thoroughly you want to erase Bitlocker drive.

• Fill sectors with Zero - Quick but relatively basic.
• Fill with random data - Safer than Zero.
• DoD 5220.22-M - Multiple passes, based on U.S. Department of Defense standards.
• Gutmann - 35 passes, extremely secure but very slow.

At last, click Start to wipe drive with Bitlocker.

In addition, you can also use this software to wipe USB flash drive, unallocated space, SATA drive, NVMe SSD, etc.

Conclusion

You cannot use “Reset this PC” to wipe drive with BitLocker as you can’t access the system drive to modify system files, even in the Windows recovery environment. Don’t worry, you still can use Diskpart clean all or a dedicated eraser - AOMEI Backupper to wipe a drive.

Both require you to create a bootable USB, but the latter one allows you to complete the entire process within one software, making the operation easy and seamless. What’s more, it has a user-friendly interface, which is suitable for all users.